


Return to Life: The Vacation

by starbender



Series: Return to Life [4]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), avengers endgame - Fandom
Genre: All Character Friendly, Angst, Asexuality, Asexuality Spectrum, Avengers AU, Avengers Endgame Fix it, Avengers Endgame fix-it, Complete, Don't copy to another site, Fix-It, Fluff and Humor, Homoromanticism, M/M, MCU Alternate Universe - Freeform, New York City, No Bashing, No Sex, No Smut, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Not Canon Compliant, Obsession, Other, Pro Bucky Barnes, Pro Steve Rogers, Pro Tony Stark, Sensual Attraction, Sharing a Bed, Stucky - Freeform, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-28
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-07-08 07:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 50,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19865959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbender/pseuds/starbender
Summary: Part Four of the Return to Life Series. Steve and Bucky take a trip back home to New York.  Their plans for a nice relaxing month in their hometown with no responsibilities goes south in a hurry.  All Character Friendly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is in response to requests for more Steve and Bucky in this Universe, specifically for them to spend some time in New York. I've only been to New York once, and have a friend who went to NYU who helped, but if I made mistakes, just remember this takes place in an alternate Universe so things will be a little different! Complete.
> 
> And my usual disclaimer. I appreciate comments and kudos, but please, no concrit.
> 
> A big thank you to those few, the proud who wanted another installment to this story and kept up with it. Just knowing you were there was a big encouragement to finish! So many times readers ask us to keep going, only to abandon us but you stuck with it. Thanks again!

The colorful hand-woven mat brightened up the back room and looked good on the new wood floor. Bucky's newfound creativity surprised everyone, including himself. The project started as a dare from one of the children and spiraled out of control. They insisted on giving him advice, but everything they knew about the craft came from observing their elders. They laughed at him every time he started over because of his unwillingness to admit defeat. 

He welcomed their company. His neighbors kept him occupied during the day but he hated the nights when loneliness kicked in. At first, he fell into bed exhausted after a long day's work, but the past few nights he tossed and turned, awake for hours alone with his thoughts. He toyed with the idea of moving up to the Palace until Steve returned but dismissed the idea. His heart ached, missing Steve, but he told himself to man up, which helped for a while but the memories would come back, weaving their way into his soul. He dreaded tonight. 

He wanted to do something special for Steve but an opposing voice told him it was a bad idea because everything else around it needed to be perfect. Right time, right place and they had a running joke about sentimentality and this would definitely be sappy. Maybe, when he saw Steve again, the decision would be easier. He wasn't sure how he would react, and just thinking about the idea made him nervous.

A noise outside the hut pushed his idea to the side. Someone walking. The stride sounded familiar, but he dismissed the idea as absurd. _Not yet._ He tied the curtain back to return to the main room right as Steve walked through the front doorway, but somehow not Steve. Longer hair and the start of a beard threw him off for a moment, but joy replaced the confusion. Without saying a word, Steve scooped Bucky up in his arms and his arms wrapped so tightly around him, he had to force himself out of the embrace. 

"Damn you look good!" Steve said, reaching out to brush a stray lock out of Bucky's face. 

"And you look different, but I'm not complaining. T'Challa said two more weeks. He said…" 

"Caught a lucky break. Found the supplier by a sheer fluke and cut that pipeline in half. The local authorities took over, and we got to come home." 

"Is everyone else ok? Wait, don't tell me. Clint?" 

Steve laughed. "Yes, Clint. He's pretty banged up but he'll be ok. T'Challa offered to bring him here, but he wanted to go back to New York. He'll be fine. Everyone else came through without a scratch." 

"Sorry I missed it," Bucky said with meaning. He hated the circumstances that forced him to stay behind.

"We got into a couple of tight situations that wouldn't have happened if you'd been there. Told the Security Council. They said they’d take that under advisement. You being forced to stay behind, not fair." 

"I didn’t like it either, but The Asset gave them a lot of grief, and me never showing my face inside their borders again is a small inconvenience for them signing the Pacts. We can live with me staying out of two countries out of a hundred and seventeen." 

"Never liked that concession," Steve said. "But it's over." He took a moment to glance around the room. "You got the floor put in. Looks good." 

"Everybody in the village and their mother came by to help. They didn't want me getting lonely. The kids showed up here every day, bringing me things…" 

"They love you, and so do I," Steve said, taking his face in his hands sealing his words with a kiss. Bucky relaxed, allowing himself to enjoy it. They stood there for a long moment, Steve's arms slipped to his waist, their foreheads touching.

"So how did you do without me?" Bucky asked as he pulled away, realizing how self-absorbed that sounded, but he needed to address Steve's latest bout of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

"Not a problem. Wasn't a lot of downtime so I stayed focused on the mission."

"Good, good. You should know, this mission was difficult for Thula. She came over a couple of times…" 

"She's been through this before," Steve said. "Sam told her how things work." 

"She handled the short missions just fine, but one lasting several weeks was a new thing for her. I did my best. Hope my little pep talk helped.”

"So do I," Steve said, pulling off his shirt. "I know it's not easy. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take a quick swim." 

"You came straight here? Didn't take the time to clean up first?" 

"Of course not. I needed to get back to you!" Steve said, "And yes, I admit, I'm being sappy and no, I don't care," he said as he went out the door. Bucky walked over to the opening, keeping his eyes on him as he ran behind the barrier of the trees that shielded him from the rest of the village where he stripped down to his shorts and plunged into the lake. If they had been alone, he would have taken those off too, but he didn’t want to be surprised by one of the kids. _He is perfect._ He smiled at himself when he remembered how he dreaded tonight. Steve took his time in the water, returning to dry himself off and change. 

"A new rug?" he called from the back room. "They don't stop with the gifts, do they?" 

"You noticed. That beautifully crafted piece of art was made by yours truly!" Bucky called back from his place at the table in the main room where he took his time cutting up a couple of monkey oranges. 

"Hard not to notice something that bright, but I like it. Didn't realize you possessed any creative impulses!" 

"Neither did I. Can’t let you have all the fun. The kids convinced themselves I was bored, one thing led to another. Harder than it looks. Next time, I'll hire someone." 

Steve came out of the room, looking refreshed. "There's a good possibility the team might tell you how grouchy I acted without you. They wouldn't let up. It's the longest we've been apart since…" 

"I remember," Bucky said, "but you're back, that's what matters and next time, I'll go with you as long as you don't go back to Kazakhstan." 

"What did you do there?" Steve asked. "If you don't mind me asking?" 

Bucky stopped chopping, holding the knife in the air and stared out the window toward the open meadow on the other side of his homestead. "I don't remember. Must have been a long time ago," he said as he offered Steve a piece of the fruit which he accepted and ate with gusto. A partial truth. Everything remained, some things buried deeper than others and he could choose what he brought up from the depths of his mind. Today he let them stay buried. The day turned around for him and he refused to sully it with bad memories. 

"I miss this almost as much as I miss Coney Island hot dogs," Steve said. 

"You’re one of us now," Bucky said with mock solemnity as he took a bite. 

"Speaking of Coney Island, you still want to go back to New York?" 

"If you do," Bucky replied, "even arranged things with the neighbors. Thula's been looking forward to it." He didin't want to admit to Steve that he had forgotten about the trip until Thula reminded him. A change once in a while could be a good thing, but he suspected even while in New York, his mind would be here. 

"It’s spring in New York and I’m free for the foreseeable future. How long do you want to stay?" Steve asked.

"A month? I want to be back here when the weather turns hot. I love New York, but not in the summer."

"Tony said he picked out a place for us…" 

"Tony? You trust him with that?" 

"I told him to keep things simple!" 

"For him, simple is a penthouse somewhere." He laid the knife back down on the table and turned to face Steve. He didn’t want to talk about the trip anymore. "How about we take the boat out? Get some fish for dinner?" 

"Why not? Damn, it's good to be back doing normal things again.” 

They took the finely crafted dugout, a gift to Bucky from the village nicknamed _The Yacht,_ out to a place in the shade near the banks. Fishing came easy for them because their hyper reactions allowed them to sense every slight movement of the fish in the water. With little effort, they soon filled the hold in the boat. They always caught too much for the two of them so after returning to the village, they passed out the extras to the children to take home. After cleaning their own, they grilled them over the fire pit by the lake.

"So, about the mission?" Bucky asked, continuing a tradition of theirs. 

"Cut and dry as far as that goes, but we changed our methods of operation a little. Tony played himself, not Iron Man, looking to cut a business deal. He didn't tell one of his future business partners that he planted bugs around his office. Natasha and Clint did their undercover thing. Sam, Rhodey and me, we stayed in the shadows this time. Clint found the shortcut but not before beating up the guys who found him sneaking around. They messed up his face with a few good hits. That's why his trip home went sideways by way of the hospital. There was a moment when someone had to reach into a locked container covered with live wires and complicated sensors. Nobody could break it, not Wanda, not Tony, not even Thor without shocking everyone else in the room. I used the Shield to protect us from outlying bursts but the opening to the source was too small for anyone to get to safely. Every time they tried to get in there just automatically rerouted the circuits. Clint even tried to shoot an arrow in there, but that didn't help. We wasted half an hour waiting until Tony could disconnect it all with the help of his AI when you could have just reached in and pulled it apart in seconds because the Vibranium would have absorbed everything. Other than that, textbook."

"It's nice to feel wanted. Since you guys took out the Consortiums, missions are getting almost boring," Bucky said as he turned over a piece of fish. 

"Since _you took_ out the Consortiums. I missed that, remember?" 

"Oh yeah, but as far as the world is concerned, Captain America did his part, and I'm not telling them any different." 

"You looked good in that outfit," Steve said, winking at him. Bucky's cheeks grew warm, making Steve laugh. "I like it when you go all shy on me." 

"I am NOT shy…" Bucky protested, but the sound of Steve’s laugh rang out in the evening air and the echo on the lake silenced his side of the argument. Even the goats stopped eating long enough to stare at them.

After dinner, they penned up the animals up for the night. Bucky opted to clean up in the small stone washroom in the back of his small homestead. The water from the small reservoir, warm from the solar energy felt good and after he finished, he stopped for a moment, as he always did on the way back to the house, to watch the rays of the evening sun play across the lake. Over in the village, home fires died out as his friends prepared for the night. He walked back to the house, crossing the smooth stone footpath and entering through the little-used back door that opened right into their bedroom. Steve was already in bed, laying on his side, his head propped up with his hand. A Vibranium powered camping lantern cast a soft blue glow around the room. 

"Remember this?" he asked. 

"Of course I do," Bucky said. "You think I’d forget so soon?" Not that long ago the two of them went on the run, camping out in the deep backcountry of Wakanda. Painful memories of the ordeal started to crowd in so he pushed them back. He walked around the room, adjusting the mosquito netting in place over the windows. 

"I wouldn't mind doing that again, but without the whole drone chasing us thing…" Steve said. 

"And hiding from Rhodey, and me having just one arm," Bucky added. "But if you want to take a long hike through the woods again, say the word. Although, if you listen to Tony, what we're doing right now is camping. He calls me Nature Boy behind my back for a reason," Bucky said as he pulled down the heavy curtain to their room, blocking out the outside world. 

"He has a pet name for everybody. Called me Capsicle at one point." His eyes stared past him for a moment. He didn't share his thoughts, but Bucky knew where his mind had gone. Back to his old life, the one where they defeated Thanos, but their loved ones, including the other Bucky, stayed gone, and their grief brought them here. He didn't do this as often as he used to, but memories are memories. Bucky had his own, of his own Steve, his tormented friend this Steve replaced. He hoped he found peace and a new purpose to wherever the sorcerer Kuthetha sent him and though they never spoke of it, they both knew Steve's Bucky would find him there.

Steve's eyes came back around to Bucky. "You're a beautiful man." 

Bucky said nothing but slid into bed beside him. Steve reached for him, his hand moved around his waist and drifted up to his spine creating a delicious ticklish sensation. 

"Closer," he requested. Bucky moved over and Steve's arms wrapped around him in a tight embrace. The sensation of Steve's skin against his own never got old. Bucky could never describe what this sensual touch meant to him, much more than foreplay with no need for this to lead to anything else. He wasn't sure Steve, or anyone, really understood how his mind and body worked, but Steve accepted him, and helped him embrace his orientation and loved him just the way he was and always turned down his offer to cross the next line. He decided at that moment to go through with his plan. He hadn't decided on the when and where just yet, but he would do it. He returned the embrace and settled down to enjoy the night, enjoying Steve’s caresses as his hands moved across his body, happy that he wouldn't be lonely tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

“You go first,” Bucky insisted as they waited for the door on the private elevator to open. He forced down the training that made him want to skulk around corners of unfamiliar places with a gun until given the all-clear. Now all he had was a suitcase, a garment bag, and his arm.

“Stop being so dramatic. We’re not doing reconnaissance in enemy territory,” Steve said, walking purposefully into the apartment carrying his own luggage.

“I don’t trust Tony not to go over the top.”

“Looks nice, but not too nice, come on in, no enemy combatants in sight!”

Bucky followed him, overwhelmed by the space and a gigantic long picture window looking out over the cityscape and beyond that, a long balcony that was big enough to be a separate room.

“That’s a little ostentatious,” Bucky said.

“If you’re determined to find fault, we’ll go back to the compound with Sam and Thula!”

“No, this is fine.” They took a short tour of the apartment. Nice, but not too fancy. They didn’t bring much with them because Tony told them the place contained everything they needed. A large central living space and a long galley kitchen, stocked as promised, with two bedrooms, both with large bathrooms. Some unfamiliar over the top gadgets covered the kitchen counter and a huge TV screen dominated the living area. They discovered a small closet-sized room that contained nothing but a strange-looking device covered with a lot of blinking lights.

“That room is the computer,” Steve said. “This is a smart space. Say something and it does what you say. Has a name. Bob”

“Bob? Bob? Really? Wonder who Bob was. Different from Shuri’s place, and she doesn’t give her inventions pet names,” Bucky said, stopping outside the open door of one bedroom. “So which room is yours and which one is mine?”

Steve said nothing but grabbed his suitcase away from him and tossed it on the king-sized bed and threw his own down beside it. “Does that answer your question?”

“I like the other one better,” Bucky said. “This one is too close to that computer lab… Bob thing. I don’t trust it.”

“Tony won’t spy on us!” Steve said. “He’s got better things to do. We’re staying here!”

“Yes, Captain,” Bucky said in a pretend meek voice. He hung up his bag in the closet, moved the suitcases and threw himself down on the bed and stretched out his legs. “Nice.”

“You’re not tired are you?” Steve asked. He was more carefully taking care of his own luggage but as soon as he finished settled down on the bed beside him.

“No, I’m good,” Bucky said. “Imagine, staying here the whole time and no going out at all. No goats to feed, no having to go fishing for supper, no vegetables, and fruit to harvest, no fixing things ourselves… no community obligations…” he said. A break in the routine might be a good thing.

“You could live that life,” Steve said. “Here, or back in Wakanda.”

“So could you,” Bucky said, remembering the thing he wanted to do for Steve. Not yet. He needed the perfect moment. “I’m still surprised at the things you put up with…”

“Not a hardship. I admit things took some getting used to,” Steve said. “But time away is a good thing. And as far as staying in the whole time, tempting, I admit, but we promised to give Thula the full treatment of all the tourist spots as soon as she and Sam recover from the flight.”

“I don’t mind,” Bucky said. “I like being with people seeing the city for the first time, but we’re not going to go to a play or anything with them are we?”

“No, that’s Sam’s special thing, so we got a reprieve. I want to…”

“The Art Museum…”

“I want to find out what’s different. You don’t have to go.”

“Yes, I do. And we need to visit some of the new eateries.” Bucky crossed his hands behind his head and laid back on the pile of pillows. The room glowed in the half-light, a painting of a river decorated the ceiling with little woodland creatures positioned on the banks. “We’ll have a good time.”

Steve imitated Bucky. “I agree. Us time. No missions, no responsibilities, no secrets, just you and me. Bob, dim the lights! He called out. The lights obeyed.

“Bob, play some soft jazz!” Bucky added. The mellow sounds of piano rippling out the sounds of a torch song played in the background “Nice.” He started to drift off, aware of Steve doing the same. After a few minutes, his gentle snores accompanied the music. Bucky shifted himself, reaching across Steve to turn him over when a voice broke through the soundscape. The lights brightened, and the music stopped.

“Hey, guys,” Tony’s voice sounded out of the ether. “Sorry if I’m interrupting anything.”

“What is it, Tony?” Bucky asked as he sat up. Steve groaned beside him as he came awake, muttering in an even softer tone. ‘No, please no.’

“Heads up on something. Called the team out…” he said. Bucky started to protest, but Tony was ahead of him. “Don’t worry, this is a job for the big guns. I’m tired of mopping up after the Consortiums, but we gotta do what we gotta do. This one might involve moving a lot of heavy shipping containers. Me and Wanda, we can handle everything, with Bruce as backups and I’ve made Rhodey his own suit, he wants to go just to try it out and I couldn’t tell him no. So no hand to hand fighting or any need to go undercover. You all enjoy your time off and we’ll catch up with you when we get back.”

“You sure, Tony?” Steve asked, fully awake.

“Yeah, tell Sam tomorrow after he’s caught up on his sleep and you can get back to whatever it is you’re doing. Nice music.”

“Thanks for everything, Tony, and be careful,” Steve said. As if on cue, the lights dimmed, and the music started to play again.

“I don’t like that,” Steve said, as they both resumed their previous positions.

“You never do, but if we’re not needed, we’re not needed. Relax. They’re big boys and girls, they can handle everything.”

“I guess you’re right,” Steve stared at the ceiling for a moment. “So where were we?”

“Relaxing. With you snoring.”

“I don’t snore!”

“I got news for you, Captain America snores. Not too bad, a kind of quiet snore. Ask anyone. All those times you took ten on the Quinjet? Wanda thinks it's cute.”

“I am not cute!” Steve said his protest half-hearted as he tried not to laugh.

“Of course not,” Bucky said. “You’re perfect.” He snuggled up against Steve and draped his arm around his waist. “Now relax.”

They spent the next twenty minutes cuddled together on the verge of drifting off again when the lights once again grew bright and the music stopped.

“Hey, guys” This time Clint’s voice broke through. “Sorry if I…”

“Don’t worry, not interrupting anything.” This time Steve who sat up. “What do you need?”

“Oh, nothing. Wanted to tell you they released me from the hospital, and I wanted to invite you to lunch while you’re here. I want you to meet someone.”

“Sure,” Steve said, rubbing his hand through his hair. “Except for taking Thula on a sightseeing tour tomorrow, our schedule is open. Give us time and a place.”

“Sure, I’ll send you a message, gotta work around her work, she is eager to meet you, both of you. How about that mission the team is going on? I’m glad to be sitting this one out!”

“He told us,” Steve said. “Sounds like its textbook.”

“Yeah. Well, I’ll talk to you later!”

“Later Clint,” Steve said. He dropped back onto the bed with a heavy plop. Once again the lights dimmed, and the music returned. This time he reached for Bucky.

“One more time,” he said. Once again they resumed their places. The quiet, the music and Steve’s touch calmed something inside Bucky’s soul. A moment of pure contentment. He became of Steve’s hand caressing his face, pushing his hair away, his lips on his cheek. He opened his eyes in time for the lights to brighten and the music to stop. This time an angry Steve answered.

“Now what?” He muttered.

“Steve, this is Sam,” their friend sounded drunk. “Where’d everybody go?”

“Sam,” Steve said. He calmed down as soon as he recognized his voice. “They’re preparing for a mission. We’re exempt. Go back to bed.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure. You’ve got jet lag, remember? Go back to sleep.”

“Yeah, I’ll um… talk to you later.”

Once again the lights dimmed, and the music played. Bucky started to laugh at the absurdity of the situation. “He won’t remember a thing about that tomorrow,” he said.

“I give up. How about we get some beers and maybe find a baseball game on that big TV?”

“Sure. We’ve got all month to fool around,” Bucky said.

The beer, a high end imported something with an unpronounceable name, tasted good, and Bob found a game a spring training match with no real stakes, but none of that mattered.

“We should go to a real game when the season starts. Tony’s good at arranging things like that,” Steve said.

“Wouldn’t be the same,” Bucky replied. “Something about the old days was more exciting, saving your money for the tickets, months of waiting, the noise, the food, and the fights afterward, no one’s been able to recreate that.”

“And your favorite team NOT being in California!” Steve muttered.

“That happened? The Dodgers…”

“Moved to Los Angeles. Happy to find out didn’t happen here.”

“Damn! The fans would riot!”

“Bob, turn off the TV!” Steve said to the air, and the wide screen monstrosity in front of them shut off and turned black. He moved to the window to stare out at the cityscape.

“The Twin Towers,” he mused. “I never saw them in real life, back in my world. Weird seeing them like this, but you experienced tragedies we avoided,” he said, his voice almost solemn.

Bucky got up to join him in staring out the window. The city had changed so much over the years, but for Steve, this was a new experience.

“This is the first time you’ve seen everything, as you, without him in your head,” Bucky said. “Must be strange.”

“You’re right.” He opened the door and wandered out onto the balcony. He leaned against the railing and stared into the distance. The sun’s rays shot out against the city, the rays reflecting off the thousands of windows below them reminding Bucky of the rays of the sun rising over the lake at his home in Wakanda making him homesick for a moment, but the sensation passed.

“I want to turn in,” Steve said abruptly and headed toward the bedroom. He had something on his mind and would talk about it when ready. Bucky stayed on the balcony for a while longer, soaking in the fresh air, and watching the sun dipped lower in the sky. The lights of the city began to twinkle along with the faint stars as the evening deepened.

Back in the room, he expected the sound of the shower but met Steve in the hallway.

“The tubs, they’re Jacuzzis. Want to join me?” he asked. Bucky hesitated for half a second like he always did when Steve issued invitations like this but decided it was time to let loose a little.

"Why not? We’re on vacation," Bucky said. "As long as I don't have to...you know..."

"You don't," Steve said, ruffling his hair and giving him a kiss on the forehead.

He took a few minutes to change and joined Steve who adjusted the temperature and the jets to perfection. The warm water beat a rhythm against his skin, the water droplets beading on his arm, thanks to the protective alloy coating. He leaned back against the rail and closed his eyes, waiting for what the inevitable. Steve slid his hands across his body.

“You want to fool around?” He asked.

“I thought you were past the water thing?” Bucky replied, shifting his position allowing him more room.

“You were wrong,” he said, pulling him close, his hands moving up and down his wet body and kissing him all over while the warm water bubbling around them.

"I think I'm going to enjoy this vacation," Bucky said as he pulled Steve into a long deep kiss, their wet bodies sliding against each other, happy for no interruptions.


	3. Chapter 3

Steve burrowed deeper into the temperature-controlled bed. A thermostat deep inside the mattress sensed when things got too warm or too cool and adjusted itself. He stared at the mural on the ceiling for the first time in full light, watching as the water in the river flowed over the rocks and little woodland creatures chase each other back and forth. Watching the gentle rhythm of the fake water mesmerized him for a few minutes, forcing him to relax.

Bucky snuggled up closer to him, his left arm draped around his waist, his breathing calm and light with no snoring. Steve never heard him snore, a fact that irritated him. Bucky shifted his position, moving his arm. Steve no longer referred to it as his metal arm. It was just his arm, but now he realized something was different. Warmth. He reached out to touch it with his other hand to make sure. Yes, definitely warm. The memory of Bucky's recent encounter with a virulent technical virus brought back from another world gave him a moment of concern. It had infected his arm, forcing Shuri to perform an amputation.

Reacting to the touch, Bucky shifted his position and opened his eyes.

“Morning,” he said. “What’s wrong?”

“Good morning. What do you mean, what’s wrong?”

“You’ve got that look on your face. You’re worried about something,” he said.

Steve sighed, determined to find a better way to conceal his emotions from Bucky. No one else could read him the way he could. “Your arm. Is it supposed to be like that?”

“Like what?”

“Warm.”

He propped up his head to stare at Steve. “You mean you’ve just now noticed?”

“I’ve reached the point where I just think of it as your arm, so I guess it didn’t register until now…”

“I suppose that’s a good thing, and I'll forgive you this once. Shuri worked her magic and placed a tiny little Vibranium something inside of it, bringing it close to my body temperature.”

“Why?” Steve asked.

Bucky playfully moved his hand up and down Steve’s chest, creating a ticklish sensation. “Three guesses.” His tone turned flirtatious. 

“You don’t talk about this with anyone else. You’d die of embarrassment if you had to mention this to Shuri. I can imagine that conversation. I’d love to hear that conversation. ‘Shuri, can up please warm up my arm so Steve and I…” he started to laugh before he could finish. “You’re so sensitive about your orientation, you’d rather face a hail of bullets than talking about it!”

“I’m not embarrassed about my orientation. I’m asexual. There, I said it. It's just…” He stopped. Steve did his best to give him what he hoped was his most skeptical expression. “I just don’t like to talk about it, ok. It's just that sometimes I have to touch people, sometimes frightened people you know, like pulling kids out from under rubble or whatever. I thought it would be better if they came in contact with something warm instead of cold harsh metal. So damn impersonal so I asked her to make it more...human.”

“And did she believe you?” Steve asked.

“Why shouldn’t she? I told her the truth!” He rolled back to look at the ceiling. “Are those things moving?”

Steve chuckled at his normal shifting away from the topic when it came to personal issues. He stared up at the ceiling and his memory moved on to another thing they hadn’t talked about. A spontaneous plan began to formulate in his mind, of doing something about it, but Bucky might think his idea was a little over the top, but they should do something.

“Yes, they are. It's a hologram,” he said. "I hope Sam and Thula got a good rest. She wants to see Times Square.”

Breakfast made itself. All they had to do was get the ingredients together and in the right place, and Bob took over, even frying eggs and bacon.

“Please don’t say it's better in Wakanda,” Steve said. “It might offend Bob.

“I cannot be offended,” a deep male voice said, startling both of them.

“Not better, just different,” Bucky said to the air, and they both laughed.

They ate on the balcony. A shade came up from the railings, shielding them from most of the sun’s brightness.

“I could get used to this,” Bucky said as he munched on his toast.

“I wonder if Tony would give us an option to buy this place if we like it. We should consider it.”

“Consider it considered!” Bucky said. “I’ve already followed you to the ends of the earth, and beyond, so if you’re good with it, so am I. I like coming back here, temporarily. Doubt if I can live here again full time though.”

Bucky’s words caused an unsettled sensation within Steve and he wasn’t sure where it came from. Something about looking out over the city touched something deep inside him and he realized why. He missed this. He finished his breakfast and sat there, drinking coffee while his eyes wandered over the scenery. It was different, not the place he came from, but close enough. He tried to dismiss the feeling. It was because they were taking a much-needed break and not being shoved from one crisis to another and his mind was his own. Yes, that was why. 

“Hey, guys!” Sam’s voice wafted through the air, startling both of them. He sounded cheery, nothing like last night. “Hope we didn’t interrupt anything. We’re on our way and by on our way, I mean almost there. So buzz us in when we get there.”

“We’ll be waiting,” Steve said. 

“Why does everyone ask if they’re interrupting us? What do they think we’re doing?” Bucky asked. 

“You are so innocent,” Steve said. “I’ll tell you later, behind closed doors.”

“I don’t know if I like people just talking to us like that, out of thin air. They need to give us a warning. There’s got to be a way to adjust that thing. Make Bob ring a bell or something.”

“We’ll ask Tony when we see him again. Wonder how the mission’s going.”

“If something was wrong, we would have heard,” Bucky said as he gathered up the plates. They took them to the kitchen and after finding the dishwasher Bob took over.

Less than ten minutes later they heard a soft ping. 

“Bob, it's ok, they can come up,” Steve responded. “I hope that was the right thing to say,” he said to Bucky. It must have been because less than a minute later, the elevator opened revealing Sam and Thula.

“Sweet!” Sam said as they entered and the elevator doors shut behind them. “So did Tony set you up here because he likes you more than us... or because he didn’t want you hanging him around for a month?”

“Neither one, stupid. Besides, he’s gone for who knows how long. Good Morning, Thula,” Bucky said. To an outsider, it might seem like a simple greeting, but those in the room knew he was following the Wakandan protocol. She would not speak until he addressed her first.

“Good morning. What should I call you here?” She asked. 

“I won’t tell anyone back home if you call me Bucky,” he replied. That unsettled something washed over Steve again. He didn’t like it. It reminded him of the jealous whisperings of his long-gone counterpart but now there was no one else inside his head. This was all him. _Home. I am at home._

“Then Bucky it is,” she said. She had a pleasant lilt in her voice. “I will try to remember, but forgive me if I slip into my old ways. I have been looking forward to this trip ever since Sam told about it. Until now, I’ve only ever been to the airport here between flights to the West Coast and airports...”

“Don’t count.” Sam said, “So, she wants to see Times Square first and the Museum of Natural History and the Central Park Zoo is on the list. She wants to see all the zoos.”

“And we’re off,” Bucky said. “How do we get the elevator doors to open?”

“Bob, Elevator!” Steve said, and the doors opened again. There was a slight bit of hesitation because there was that part of Steve that still held onto the old ‘ladies first’ notion, but Thula didn’t want to precede Bucky. Bucky took the hint, entering first, winking at Steve as he pulled him beside him. A year ago he never would have done that, much less touched him in public. Thula and Sam followed, laughing about Bob.

They whirled through the hours in the city. Thula insisted on having her picture taken at the famous corner of Times Square, smiling brightly at Sam’s phone as the crowds milled around her. Steve couldn’t help but remember the first time he saw it like this, the flashing neon lights, electronic billboards, the traffic, and Nick Fury. He thought he’d landed on another planet. Now it was familiar, and it amazed him at himself at how easily he adapted to the change. It wasn’t such a shock to Bucky. He had been back several times and his handlers always prepared him, but he admitted he didn’t focus on much except his missions. His mind wandered over to Nick Fury. Where was he? The team couldn’t find him when they did what they did, and they couldn’t find him here... what if...

Thula seemed to want to squeeze everything into one day, ticking off Central Park, joking that if she wanted to see trees and rocks, she could have just stayed home although she enjoyed the zoo. They took her to the top of the Empire State Building but she insisted on going to the Top of the Rockefeller Center so she could take a picture of the Empire State Building itself. Riding the subway wasn’t just a means to get from one place to another, but something she had wanted to do for a long time. Bucky was right. Being with someone seeing this for the first time was fun. The city, in this dimension, was a little different: the Twin Towers dominating the skyline was proof enough of that, but enough remained that was the same. A quiet revelation struck Steve full force and almost took his breath away. _I am homesick!_

They ate at one of the ‘new’ Eateries, an eclectic restaurant of mixed ethnic food Bucky recommended. It was close enough to the touristy spots but tucked away on a side street. Nice quiet place, with two dining rooms, one upstairs.

Almost at the moment, they finished with the meal, Bucky’s countenance changed. Something behind Steve caught his eye. His eyes shifted around the room. Steve knew he was looking for an escape but he also knew enough not to turn around. If there was a danger, Bucky would signal him. It wasn’t the hunted look of his old Bucky, but something wasn’t right. 

“Thula, this place has some watercolors of the Wakandan Capital, painted by a native artist whose name I can’t pronounce. It’s up on the landing. Want to see them?”

“Of course!” Thula gave him a gracious smile, and they both rose from the table.

“How did you know they had Wakandan art here?” Sam asked. 

“I saw it when I looked at this place online. One reason I wanted to come here. I learned a little something from living with Steve,” Bucky said, with a slight nod in the direction behind them.

Bucky was getting her out of the way. Steve watched as both of them walked up the stairs and he could see them, through the railings, their faces turned away. There were paintings there but at this distance, he couldn’t make out the details. He saw them stand in front of one, and Thula seemed appreciative of whatever she was looking at.

“Something’s going on,” Sam said, his voice almost a whisper. “Its art. Why didn’t he ask you along?”

"Something is going on. Get up and ask for the restroom and look around and..."

“Captain America! The Falcon! May we please have your autographs?” Steve looked up into the eager eyes of several teenagers and behind them a group of adults. “We waited until you finished. We didn’t want to be rude. We haven’t seen you around New York for a while. When are you coming back?”

Steve and Sam exchanged rueful grins and accommodated them with their signatures. Steve accepted the team’s celebrity status a long time ago and knew that people often babbled on in their presence from nervousness. Another small crowd replaced the group. To Steve’s amazement, none of the other patrons seemed to mind. He glanced up at Bucky who was now leaning against the railings of the landing, looking down with a big grin on his face. It occurred to Steve that their positions had been reversed. Back in Wakanda, T’Challa conferred on Bucky the status of a Prince of the royal family and everyone deferred to him, but he never abused the privilege. There he was the star, and Steve was content to sit back and enjoy the reflected glory. Now here, back in New York, it was the other way around but there was no sign of jealousy on Bucky's face. 

The question of the young man came back, haunting him. _When are you coming back?_ Could they buy that apartment and make a home here? Was that a possibility?

After a few minutes of this, a well-dressed dark-haired man came over and whispered in Steve’s ears. “If you like, there is a side entrance you can use to exit the building.” Probably the manager, speaking with the barest hint of an accent. “These people won’t keep quiet about what they saw, and while we appreciate the business, they know this place for being out of the way and as soon as they leave...”

“Yes, thank you,” Steve said. “Take our friends out first, if you don’t mind.” He nodded toward Bucky and Thula. The man understood and after leaving them disappeared with the two. 

The small crowd dispersed. Steve and Sam paid the bill, and the man returned. They followed him through the bar to a small side street. 

“Tell the truth, was there any Wakandan artwork up there?” Sam asked.

“Yes, there was. I took pictures. When we get home, we must look up the artist and thank him for saving us from a mob!” Thula said. She passed her phone to Steve. The paintings were beautiful.

“Hardly a mob, but we take your point,” Bucky said. “I didn’t think you’d want people asking questions and having your name splashed across social media accounts. I don’t think either of us is ready for that yet.”

“Since the word’s out we’re here if you’re going to the theater, I’d suggest you call ahead and enter by a side entrance. Just tell him who you are and you’re a friend of Tony’s.”

“So I don’t have to worry about you being in danger, there is this as well?” Thula asked. She seemed perturbed.

“Just when we’re here,” Bucky said. “And that won’t be for long. It’s a small price to pay for saving the world once in a while. Once we’re back in Wakanda, this won’t matter.”

Thula let out a long sigh. “You’re right. It is a small price. I’m just not used to it.”

A hint of an idea had been growing in Steve’s mind to ask Bucky if they could stay longer but this incident crushed it. Back in Wakanda Bucky could his life live unbothered by all of this. It wouldn’t be fair to ask him to give that up.

“I guess we go the hat and sunglasses route,” Sam said. “There’s got to be some tacky souvenir stores around here....”

“I’ll get them,” Thula offered. “While I’m still a nobody.” 

She did and insisted on wearing a garish baseball cap with a glittery red apple on it and over the top sunglasses while everyone else wore basic black. ‘So people will look at me and not at you!’ Which, they all admitted, had a certain logic to it.

It worked. No one bothered them as they stopped to take pictures of famous movie landmarks, or visited the Statue of Liberty or any of the other ‘touristy’ spots in Manhattan.

It was late evening when Steve and Bucky returned to their temporary apartment, leaving Thula and Sam to make their way back to the compound courtesy of one of Tony’s drivers.

Bucky flopped down on the couch. Steve rummaged around in the kitchen and brought out two bottles of beer. This time it was American, a craft beer of some sort. He handed it to Bucky who popped it open with his left hand. His plan for a surprise had come together in his head, it was just a question of logistics.

“That was exciting,” Bucky said, taking a long drink. He stared at the label for a moment. “Not bad. So what’s wrong?”

Steve felt like a little kid with a guilty secret. “What do you mean?”

Bucky sat up and leaned forward. “How many times have I asked you that, and how many times have you answered the same way? I spent a lifetime with people who trained me to look for tells. A shift of the eyes, a sigh, biting the lip, things that tell me something’s not right and I know you better than I know anyone else in the world. You're distracted by something. What is it? Vacation not living up to its expectations?”

Steve sat down beside him and took a drink. He was right. It wasn’t bad. “That’s not it. Things exceeded my expectations. I like being back here. I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”

"Oh," Bucky said as he sat back on the couch. "So you do want to move back here?"

“I don’t know. I just...”

"Just say the word and it’s done. I just have to go back and make arrangements..."

“No!” Steve said, taking another drink and wishing it had any kind of effect on him. “I can’t ask you to do that. You’ve finally found stability, a place in the world and I’m not asking you to give that up. You’re already made too many adjustments....”

“None of that is as big as the adjustment you made for me,” Bucky said. It surprised Steve that he mentioned it. They loved each other, lived together and shared their own kind of intimacy but because of Bucky’s asexuality, it stopped there. They didn’t have sex, but they considered their relationship as valid as anyone else’s and no one else’s business. 

“I told you, that doesn’t matter,” Steve said. It was the truth. He didn’t know if his willingness to give in to him was an effect of the serum, making him more unselfish, or his own choice, but it never mattered. “And this isn’t some kind of competition. I’m sure I’ll get over it after we go back... home.” He castigated himself for hesitating on the word home. He loved Wakanda. He brushed the idea aside and decided. He would take the plunge and do the thing he had been halfway planning in the back of his mind.

“If you’re sure,” Bucky said, bringing him back to the present.

“I’m sure,” Steve replied. “And now, I want you to go clean up and dress in your Sunday best. You know, the suit T’Challa made you bring in case we get invited to the Wakandan Embassy? I have a surprise.”

“We’re not going out again are we?”

“Just do as I say!” It wouldn't be easy, because he left this to the last minute, but he had connections. He could pull it off.

"Ok, Mr. Mysterious. I’ll do as you say."

It took a few phone calls and dropping Tony’s name but soon it was all arranged. He went into the bedroom while Bucky was in the shower and pulled out is his own dress clothes and took them to the other bedroom, then returned.

Bucky came out of the shower drying himself. “So what are you planning?” He asked.

“You wait here until I come back. No spying!” 

“Ok...” This whole thing amused Bucky. 

The whole set-up went fast, and Steve felt nothing but gratitude for Tony Stark who had money and resources to throw around and was willing to share them with his friends. Less than forty-five minutes and everything was ready. Steve showered and changed and then knocked on their bedroom door. Bucky was wearing his formal suit and looked amazing. The two of them stared at each other for a long moment.

‘So are you going to tell me what this is about?” Bucky asked. 

“Come with me,” Steve said, taking his hand and led him out to the balcony. A table with a formal setting with candles, and lots of and lots of greenery surrounding them. Soft jazz music played in the background. 

“Well, this is nice,” Bucky said. “If a little overwhelming, but I know why. I just didn’t know if... we were... going to do anything or how you felt about it. It seemed kind of sappy and sentimental so I didn’t say anything, because maybe you would think that I wouldn’t like it, but...”

“You remember?” Steve asked. 

“Of course I do,” Bucky replied. “We’ve been together a year.”


	4. Chapter 4

The evening sun cast a golden glow on the setting and the soft music enhanced the ambiance. Bucky rarely dressed up, the last time was a traditional outfit for a recent court appearance. Now he wore a black suit with a long jacket tailored to fit him and his hair tied back. Steve didn’t want to stare at him but every time he looked away and looked back, Bucky caught his eye.

The meal was steak and potatoes, but not their normal plain fare. The chef roasted potatoes in butter and garlic and tossed them with peas, using the same ingredients for the sauce, along with white wine and Demi-glace, at least that was what the guy who brought the food said and Steve recited the menu to Bucky. Red wine accompanied the meal. 

“This is more than I expected, and thank you for not making reservations in some swanky dive,” he said, swirling the wine around in his glass. “After what happened today being around other people would be too much.”

“That gets old after a while,” Steve agreed, taking a sip of his own. He didn’t drink a lot of wine but Tony bought the best. “A private dinner is more appropriate for us, all things considered.”

“Thank you.” He took a deep breath. He seemed nervous about something. “Since we’re here, this is the perfect time for me to do something of my own,” he said reaching into his pocket. “I’ve been considering this for a while, but with everything we’ve been through the past year, I couldn’t find the right time, but since you did all this, I guess the right time is now.” He laid a ring on the table in front of Steve. A ring, a copy of the one Bucky wore on formal occasions. A black onyx stone ring with a raised image of a White Wolf, outlined in glowing Vibranium purple.

“This doesn’t mean anything formal,” Bucky said. “Unless you want it to. If you accept this, you won’t be just my live-in friend anymore. Qabane best describes our situation, the word translated means ‘each other’, but informally it would mean…

"We’re partners,” Steve supplied. "Life Companions. A sign of a commitment we've already made."

Bucky looked surprised for a moment and smiled.

“This gives you the same status as anyone who marries into the royal family. All the rank and privilege, all the good things. Your life wouldn’t change all that much. We’ll still be the same people, but your place in Wakanda would be more… established.”

“This is unexpected,” Steve said. He picked up the ring. The soft light played off the black, reflecting his face. The ring irrevocably tied him to Wakanda, no backing out. Living in New York with Bucky again would be just a dream. 

Bucky sensed his hesitation. “I knew it. Over the top” he said. “You don’t like it.”

"I do like it. I just wasn’t expecting anything like this, and I’m not used to wearing rings," he said. That was the truth.

“You don’t have to wear it all the time, just if we ever get invited to anything formal things, but that doesn’t happen all that often,” Bucky said. Steve glanced over at the original on the index of his right hand. He slid the ring onto the same finger of his right hand, giving them a sense of symmetry. 

A perfect fit. He smiled up at Bucky and placed his hand on his. “I guess that makes us officially, official. I love you,” he said. “Thank you. I am truly honored.”

“I love you,” Bucky said and blushed, causing Steve to chuckle.

“Relax,” he said. “I bet you’re glad that’s over.”

“A little. Wasn’t sure how you’d react.”

“What did you think I’d do? Throw it over the railing?” 

“Don’t be stupid. After seeing everything you did here, it was time. So… what’s on the agenda for tomorrow?”

Steve threw back his head and laughed at Bucky’s shift in conversation.

Later that evening, after Bucky settled in bed, Steve stayed in the bathroom for a few minutes, staring at the ring on his finger. He committed to Bucky a long time ago, and this symbolized their bond. These pinnings for his old home was nothing more than pure nostalgia and he would get over it. Back into the bedroom, Bucky was staring at the waterfall on the ceiling and he slid into bed beside him.

‘A year ago you seduced me into bed. I remember every moment, even the Coney Island hot dogs.”

“The best I could do,” Steve said. He smiled at the memory of Bucky's eager, shy response to the new stage of their relationship.

“When I realized what you were doing, I was as nervous as hell,” Bucky said.

“You had a right to be,” Steve said. 

“I didn’t know what you expected… what you wanted from me, or how much I could give.”

Steve said nothing but kissed him the same way he did a year ago, their lips barely touching. Bucky scooted his body under him and pulled him down, his embrace fierce, the next kiss was all his, full of passion. He had come a long way in a year. There was nothing Steve wouldn’t do to make him happy, and he did until Bucky fell asleep in his arms. 

He woke up the next morning, this time he was the one holding onto Bucky. The mural on the ceiling had changed. Now it was a sunrise over a lake, with the little animals playing around it, reminding him of Wakanda, which made him think of Bucky’s gift. They didn’t exchange any promises, because they didn’t need to. They always had an understanding and last year, they’d made it real. The ring was just an outward symbol of something they agreed on a long time ago.

Bucky stirred beside him and turned over to stare at the ceiling with him. Their hands slipped together under the sheets and they lay there for a long time, not speaking.

“So, what’s on the agenda for today?” Steve asked, squeezing his hand before sitting up.

“I think we should visit Brooklyn,” Bucky replied. 

“We visited Brooklyn last year? Remember? After our planet-hopping adventure?”

“That was just a quick trip. I mean, walk around, go to the old neighborhood, stay there for a while, with you as you, and not with the other guy inside your head.”

“Why?”

“I think… we need to,” Bucky said, emphasizing ‘we’.

“Maybe I need to. Get everything out of my system…”

“If you want to, we can…”

“Hey, guys!” A voice cut through the air. “Its Clint! Hope I’m not…”

“You’re not interrupting anything!” Bucky called out and made a face. Steve pushed down the laughter. 

“Good. Can you free up some time for lunch? Her schedule is open today and we’re not sure when she’ll be free again if you don’t mind coming to the Compound. We can send a car…”

Steve looked over to Bucky for confirmation. He nodded his assent. 

“Sure. We’re going to go hang around Brooklyn for a while this morning, maybe visit the old neighborhood. Tell the driver to meet us by my old apartment... about eleven?” Steve asked.

“Sure, we’ll arrange everything. See you later!”

They took their time eating breakfast and getting ready, and both put on caps and glasses. Bucky took a glance at himself in the mirror.

“Wonder if I should cut my hair?” He asked as he stuffed it under his hat. 

“Up to you,” Steve said. “I like you either way.” He gave him a loud smack on the cheek before calling on Bob to open the elevator door. Bucky was wearing his ring and was glad he wore his today. It was a small thing, but it probably meant a lot to him.

The elevator hesitated, going down a few floors, but the doors opened a few inches, well before their destination. They exchanged a mutual look of concern.

“Tony’s stuff doesn’t mess up,” Bucky said.

“Damn, we don’t want to show up in someone else’s apartment!” Steve said. 

“I don’t think that’s possible. This probably works on vocal and face recognition or something. Most of them have a special key you have to punch in,” Bucky said. He placed his face close to the opening. 

“This isn’t an apartment. This is a hallway for the maintenance guys. Not all of these buildings have this, most of the time they use the basement, but sometimes, for a building this tall, they use the basement and a hallway like this, halfway up.”

“How do you know that?” Steve asked, then regretted the question. Bucky spent years lurking in the shadows and had looked at blueprints of places just like this as he laid plans to take out a target.

Bucky shrugged his shoulders. “I know,” he said. “We could force this open and just go down the stairs.”

“Bob, ground floor!” Steve said in his most commanding voice. Nothing happened.

“Yelling at it won’t make it work any better,” Bucky said, with a laugh. “Let’s just get out here.” 

Steve nodded. They might as well. A long flight of stairs wouldn’t tire either of them out. With Bucky working on one side and him on the other, the doors slid open. Nothing prepared them for the sight of a well-dressed man standing outside the elevator. He didn’t appear to be a maintenance worker. He was…

“You’re the guy from the restaurant!” Steve said.

The man his hands up and twirled around until coming back around to face them. To anyone else, this might seem eccentric behavior, but they both understood what the man was doing. He was showing them he had no weapons.

“Very good, Captain Rogers, Mister Barnes,” The man said. “Search me, if you like,” Steve remembered his slight accent.

“What’s going on?” Bucky demanded. His left arm came up, his finger ready to push on the small indentations on the palm that would activate his weapons.

“There is no need for that,” the man said. “You may call me Casimir for now. All I want to do is talk. My compatriots and I need your help. It is impossible to detain a super soldier, much less two of you and one with a cybernetic arm. We thought this way would be less… disruptive to all involved.”

From somewhere in the shadows two more men and a woman appeared. They all held up their hands for a moment and recreated Casimir’s twirl. 

“Forgive us,” said one of the men, who was bigger, with well-groomed facial hair. He spoke with an accent. “All we want is for you to hear us out.”

“And you can’t go through official channels?” Steve asked. 

“Official channels!” The other man laughed. He was much younger, dark-complexioned and appeared to be about the same age as Peter Parker.

“Our official channels have no credibility. Everything is corrupt, as you will soon see,” the woman said. She had long light brown hair tied back in a ponytail and an angular face. 

“I know a little about corruption in high places, “Steve said. He nodded at Bucky who put his arm down but kept the fingers of his left hand close to the controls. “We’ll hear you out, as long as you accept that detaining us and holding us will not be easy. Many have tried and failed, and the last thing we want is for anyone to get hurt. There are people out there who will miss us and come looking. They have ways of tracking us.”

“We are aware and decided it was worth the risk. Thank you,” Casimir said. “This is Mara,” he said, pointing to the woman, “and Luka,” indicating the younger man, “and Dejan.” The well-groomed man bowed.

“Generic Slavic names,” Bucky said. “And probably aliases.”

“You are perceptive but then, for years you hide in the shadows in our region of the world. We thought they would be the easiest for you to pronounce.”

“Thank you for that,” Steve said. “So what’s so important that you need to bring to our attention? It’s not a small thing, hacking into a Stark system.”

“It is not, Luka is very talented but his modifications will not last for long. They will soon detect his tampering, so we have little time. Please come with us,” Casimir waved his hand, indicating that they should follow. Steve and Bucky fell in behind him, with Mara, Luka, and Dejan taking up the rear. The small hallway looked like a typical place where building maintenance people worked. Boxes of electrical equipment, tools, and some cleaning supplies took up most of the space. They passed one room with large glass windows in the doors and they could see it was full of lights and cables, the technical center of the place, the home of ‘Bob’. They passed that to another small room which contained a table, with file folders stacked on one side, and chairs. 

“Take a seat,” Casimir offered, and they followed his instructions. He sat down opposite, while the others stood behind him. “We will have to do things the old-fashioned way, I’m afraid.” He picked up the top file folder and opened it. Inside was a picture of a man, a well-dressed, handsome man standing in front of a waving, cheering crowd. He was wearing what looked like tokens of an office around his neck, much like Lord Mayors of English Cities but this man was not English. “Do you recognize his man?” He asked Bucky.

Buck swallowed hard and changed his position. “Yes. They didn’t tell me his name, just that he was a well-loved political figure and the Consortium was afraid they wouldn’t be able to control him.” He looked over at Steve, half apologetically. “The Asset killed him. Don’t tell me, he was your beloved father, or brother or…”

Deja gave a hollow laugh. “We heard what happened in Wakanda. We know your story, understand your circumstances and accept that everything was out of your control, but that does not matter. This is nothing like that.”

“The man was Niklaus Visnovsky.” Casimir continued. “Yes, he was much loved and very popular. The country mourned when he died.” He showed another picture of an elaborate state funeral and then a print out of headlines. “He might have done much good for the country, who knows, but also much evil.”

“I don’t understand,” Bucky said. 

“After he died, we found out the truth,” Mara said. She picked up the next folder and opened it and slammed it down on the table. “This is what he was.” 

The photo was of a man who looked younger than Visnovsky, but there was enough of his face revealed to see the resemblance. He was wearing a uniform standing beside what looked like a mass grave with a pile of bodies. The photo wasn't very clear, the angle and lighting poor, taken by someone who did not want to get caught. Steve had to look away and noted Bucky did the same. 

“I see this horrifies you, as it should. He did this before he came to power. We believe his birth name was Mile Kulkov. He was in the army and as far as anyone knows, he died during the Purges. By means that would not be possible today, he reinvented himself and wiped away his past and now his biography spreads the lie that he was the child of simple farmers who bettered himself through hard work. Visnovsky kept this part of his life well hidden and used his influence to silence anyone who tried to investigate it. It’s an old, old, terrible story.” Steve refused to react until she replaced the cover on the file. “This was...ethnic cleansing. We know, had he come to power in Krakekestan, that he would have done the same to the ethnic and religious minorities living there.”

Steve’s mind went to his own time, of escaped Nazis who ran away to live in exile, changing their names and hiding under deep cover. 

“Are you saying that I,... that the Asset, accidentally did the right thing for once?” Bucky asked, his voice full of incredulity. 

“Yes. Ironic isn’t it. You saved who knows how many from certain death.”

Bucky flopped back in his chair and stared straight ahead.

“What do you want from us?” Steve asked. 

“The Asset took out this man, but he had followers, those who wish to fulfill his fantastical evil dream and kept it alive through the years.'' Another folder, with pictures of three men and one woman. “These people are in positions of influence and power, and we believe they were all involved and some of them will be running for office in the upcoming elections. They hold to the same ideals, the same twisted values as Visnovsky. We must stop them, but as we told you, the system is full of corruption. Others like us, have tried and failed again and again. We are powerless, you are not. Stop them, expose them, by any means necessary.”

"We sympathize with your position, but we don’t do this sort of thing…” Steve began. "We’re not the police. I don’t see how we can help you."

This time Luka opened a file and placed it in front of them. This one was full of pictures of the team. Of Sam and Thula, of Clint with a woman whose appearance shocked Steve, but it shouldn’t have. Laura. Tony and Pepper Potts and Rhodey in his uniform, and one of Steve and Bucky together. They weren’t doing anything but laughing, but anyone could see what expression on their faces meant as they looked at each other. 

“You two seem very close,” Denja said. 

“Yes, we are,” Steve said. “Does anyone have a problem with that?”

“We don’t. Mara might… a little,” Luka said. “She came from a very conservative family.” 

“I am… learning,” Mara said. She looked uncomfortable for a moment.

“Is this surveillance meant to serve as some kind of threat against us and our friends?” Steve asked. 

“I admit it was stalking, but stalking with a purpose. We had to get in touch with you, without the others watching and we can't approach your Compound. When we discovered you were staying here, Luka went to work.” Casimir said.” But we wanted you to know how seriously we took this mission.”

“And you can find us anywhere anytime. You know that now you’re on our radar, we can do the same?” Steve asked. It bothered him that Bucky wasn’t saying anything. He sat there staring straight ahead as if he were in some kind of zone. 

“These people will be here at the UN for an unofficial meeting about environmental concerns in Eastern Europe,” Mara said. She pulled a marker from her pocket and circled the men and the woman. “It will be in conference room 4. We can supply blueprints…”

“No need,” Bucky said, still staring straight ahead. “I know that building, inside and out.”

“Bucky, we can’t get involved in this,” Steve said as firmly as he could. “This isn’t what we do.”

Bucky turned his head toward Steve. “I want to help them expose these people’s crimes and stop them from committing more. I’ve lived a lifetime of killing… you don’t have to agree to this, Steve, but I have to. I know things, know places to hide, how to get around people…”

“This is a bad idea,” Steve said. Bucky was biting his lower lip and clenching both his hands. He turned his attention back to Casimir. He needed to get Bucky away from these people so he could reason with him. “How about...you give us time to consider everything? Give us time to do a little...research.”

“Time is pressing, but I would say twenty-four hours is enough time for you to check us out, which is what we would do in your position,” Casimir said. “You will find out who we are, and why this is important to us. We will meet you here again and you can tell us of your decision,” Casimir said.

“Please say nothing to anyone about this outside of your team. We must be careful,” Dejan added.

“Twenty-four hours,” Bucky said. “I need copies of all that…” he said, pointing to the files and pulling out his phone. “Don’t worry, this phone came from Tony. Its backups have backups. I don’t understand how it works ...”

“I do,” said Luka. He gave the others a reassuring nod. He took Bucky’s phone, played with the buttons for a moment, and took his time as he scanned all the files, then handed it back. Bucky scrolled through everything once, then nodded to Steve.

“Is anyone else aware of your existence?” Steve asked. “What do you call yourselves?”

“No name, except for what we give ourselves, and we keep ourselves as secret as we can, but nothing is foolproof. And since you listened, you are free to go. Meet us here, tomorrow.”

Behind them, Luka opened the door and ushered them out. They returned to the elevator which operated as normal and deposited in the empty lobby of their building. 

“You still want to go to Brooklyn?” Bucky asked. His demeanor had changed. Steve recognized it. He was in mission mode. 

“We should keep our lunch date with Clint and between you and me, we should stay at the Compound tonight. I don’t like them following us. Are you okay?”

"I’m better than ok. Steve. If they’re telling the truth, need to bring these people down, and I need to find out the truth about Visnovsky. I need this to be true. It has to be true." With that, he pulled his cap further down on his head, adjusted his sunglasses and walked out of the lobby with that purposeful stride Steve had seen before. It wouldn’t be easy trying to talk him out of this one. Bucky Barnes was on a mission.


	5. Chapter 5

“Please be true, please be true,” the words kept repeating themselves in Bucky’s head, stuck there like a song. _One good thing. Please let me have this one good thing._ That he might have prevented pain and suffering instead of causing it was more than he ever hoped for. He and Steve walked across the Brooklyn Bridge because he was full of nervous energy and didn’t feel like facing the crowds on the subway. They did something unheard of and took a cab that deposited them back into the old neighborhood. They parked themselves on a bench, keeping their heads down. It was tricky, stopping here in front of a plaque proclaiming the area as the boyhood home of Captain America, but despite the few odd tourists taking pictures of the building no one seemed to notice them. Bucky flicked through his phone, studying what the clandestine group had given him, passing it over to Steve.

“But I’m not sure what they want us to do,” Steve said as he scrolled through the files.” Are we supposed to beat our way through whatever security forces they have with them, kidnap these people and hand them over… for what? To face a kangaroo court? That’s not us.”

“No, it’s not, but didn’t you tell me you broke your guys out of a super-secure prison? And you stayed underground for years?”

A rueful grin broke across Steve’s face before he could stop it. “That was us taking chances with our own lives, not someone else’s." He handed the phone back. "Bucky, this could affect an entire country. An entire region. This is different.”

“We have to ask Natasha. Her contacts have contacts. Clint maybe but not Sam. Let’s leave him as a last resort. Thula’s finally coming to terms with him being a part of the team and have him yanked him away again…” Bucky said as if he hadn’t heard him. Steve reached over and pulled his phone away, jarring his concentration.

"We’re going to tell everyone about this little encounter and that includes Sam,” Steve said. “He hates being kept in the dark, and to quote you, they’re big boys and girls. That these people had us followed is disturbing. We should warn Thula and who knows, she might surprise us. It's not good to underestimate people."

Bucky sat back, taking in their surroundings, looking for anyone who might watch them. He saw no one. “Ok, Captain, we tell everyone,” he said, admitting to himself this wasn’t the best place to talk about it. He sat back on the bench, pretending to be casual about the whole thing. “So, we’re back. Things have changed, but then, this wasn’t _your_ neighborhood and it's been gentrified.”

"This will sound stupid, but it's more than the buildings. It’s the atmosphere, the activity, the…”

“Not stupid at all. City life is exciting," Bucky said. “I understand why you missed it. I remember how that feels.”

“You mean that?”

“Of course I do. At one time, if I could, I’d be back here in a heartbeat, but not now. He did things here, and as hard as I try to stay away from it all, sometimes I see something or hear something, and it all comes back. I’ve hurt people.” Bucky held up a hand to stop Steve’s protests. “Let me stop you before you say what you’re going to say, it’s what everyone says, but… things are better for me in Wakanda, and I’m not talking about people deferring to me all the time. I’ve grown to love it there, and while I’ve been here, I’ve felt homesick for there, it's my home now, but I understand if it's not the same for you.”

Steve adjusted his sunglasses and pulled the bill of his cap down further over his eyes. “I love Wakanda, and I wouldn’t mind spending the rest of my days there, but I think a lot of that has to do with you. As cheesy as it sounds, I want to be where you are,” he said, handing the phone back to Bucky.

“You’re right. It sounds cheesy,” Bucky said. He looked at the files again for a while, replacing it in his pocket as a large dark car pulled up. They recognized the driver as one of Tony’s people. “Time to go. I guess we’ll talk about this later.”

Once inside the car, they prepared themselves for a long silent ride back to the Compound, but the driver, a quiet man named Jerry, surprised them.

“I hope you don’t mind if I go a long way around,” he said. “I think I’m being followed.” They didn't ask how he knew but were aware of the fact that Tony had sent him to the Secret Service for training. “Is that a possibility?”

Steve and Bucky exchanged looks. “Yes, it's a possibility,” Steve said, keeping eye contact with Bucky.

“Whoever’s doing it is in a rental car, it’s a dark blue minivan of all things, but I’ve seen stranger. A dark SUV is the typical modus operandi, so they try to blend in. Once someone tried to follow me in a hearse. There was that time with the party bus…”

A holographic image of the street floated up in the space between the front and back seats. All the cars, names and pictures of registered owners popped up. “And there it is,” Jerry said. The van was parked several spaces away from them. The vehicle waited until they were a fair distance up the street before pulling out and stayed several cars behind them. No corresponding picture floated up for the van. 

“Is that legal?” Bucky asked.

“It’s debatable,” Jerry replied. “Mr. Stark got around it by programming it to auto-delete unnecessary information. He doesn’t keep it on file or anything although he's talked lately about changing it. Have you been around anyone suspicious? Any way anyone could track you?” 

Bucky probed his memory of the past two hours, aware that Steve was doing the same. "Nobody got close enough to plant a bug,” he said. “But I let this kid hold my phone and take some pictures. He couldn't have done it by just pushing buttons, could he?"

“Give it here,” Jerry instructed, He didn't seem surprised and asking no further questions, so Bucky handed it over. “We can check it out, figure out his signature. They always leave some kind of signature. No one can track these phones except other members of the team. They’re impossible to clone.”

After a minute he came to a stoplight where he held it up. “Scan!” He commanded. Golden light enveloped the phone and a small red light and a warning signal beeped. “Ingenious. If the kid did this, he’s good. Tony Stark good. He programmed a tiny location tracker. The kid knows something about the system, and that’s not something you can find on YouTube. Fix!” He commanded and a small stream of light shot out at the red light and after a few seconds, it was gone. 

“You still want to believe them? Why do they need to keep tracking us?” Steve asked. 

“So they can change their plans in case we go to the police,” Bucky offered. “It's what I would do. If what they are saying is true, and , they probably don’t trust anyone, not even us.”

“Well, whatever's going on, we need to go by a circuitous route,” Jerry said. “We just have to get out of sight for just a few minutes, there’s a place I need to get to. Just got to time the lights…”

He pushed a button on the dash and sped through a yellow light that turned red just as he drove through, which caught the car in front of the blue van. Jerry turned down a side street and then another. His comment about the lights made Bucky wonder if out of all the things Tony could do, he could add controlling traffic lights in there with them, but decided some questions should remain unanswered.

Down quiet side roads until he drove up to an abandoned warehouse. The heavy doors opened automatically to let them in and let out a heavy clang as they shut behind them, reminding Bucky of a prison. 

"One of Mr. Stark’s bolt holes,” Jerry explained. "He has so many, he's lost track of where they all are, sometimes I have to remind him." They exited the car into a large empty room and followed him into a service elevator. They didn’t speak as it shot upward and soon they were on the roof, but it wasn’t just a roof.

"A helicopter pad?” Steve asked, staring at the sleek smooth lines of the small white craft. "I should have known."

“He’s got them all over for situations like this. Hop in. We’re going to the Compound in style.”

“And here I thought you were just a driver,” Bucky said as they climbed in. “I will never make that mistake again.”

Jerry laughed as he flipped the switches. "No one who works for Mr. Stark is just anything. All the assistants, tech workers, that’s how we started, but Mr. Stark unlocked our potential if you follow me. Ever since Thanos, he's cross-trained us in a lot of things."

“Leave it to Tony,” Steve said.

Jerry put on his headphones and spoke a few words to somebody, and they put their own in place, and they were off. Even though this helicopter was quieter than normal, they opted not to talk until they landed in front of the Compound. A very confused Sam and Clint met them.

“Did you have to go to these lengths to impress Clint’s girlfriend?” Sam asked.

“What’s going on?” Clint asked, ignoring Sam’s joke. 

“We’ll tell you after lunch,” Steve said firmly. 

“If you say so,” Clint said. “The others are waiting inside.”

“Just a minute,” Steve said. He pulled Jerry off to the side. Bucky knew he was filling him in on the events of the past hour. 

"I need to contact some people. Run some checks. Talk to you when I find out anything,” Jerry said as soon as Steve finished.

“Can you send someone to pick up our stuff, back at the apartment?” Seve asked. “It’s not much, just a couple of suitcases and bags hanging in the closet. We’ve barely unpacked. I think we should stay here for the time being.”

“Probably a wise decision. Will do,” Jerry replied as he ran down the stairs into the building.

The four of them walked a different route, walking through the Compound down quiet halls reserved for members of the team, and a few minutes later arrived in an exclusive small dining room where Tony entertained would-be clients. Natasha and Thula were talking to a woman who had her back toward them. At the sound of their approach, she turned around. Bucky noted Natasha making hard eye contact with Steve, causing him to glance in his direction. For a moment Bucky could swear he saw recognition in his eyes, but then his face became blank. A trained response. 

“Laura, this is Steve and Bucky,” Clint said. “Steve, Bucky, this is Laura.” The pretty dark-haired woman extended her hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Laura,” Steve said warmly, too warmly. He shook her hand and held onto it for a moment.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Rogers, both of you,” She extended her hand to Bucky and looked him right in the eyes, which was a relief. She didn’t stare at his arm.

“For me as well,” Bucky replied. He looked around the room and saw Thula waiting for him to say something, anything to her. “So, Thula, recovered from yesterday’s tour?”

“Yes, and thank you again for indulging me. I have so many pictures to send home!” 

_Home._ He wished he was there, but her words sparked an idea in his mind. 

“Would you mind showing them to me?” He asked, knowing she wouldn’t refuse.

“Of course not. I don’t have my phone with me but I can go…”

“It can wait until after we eat,” Bucky said, giving her his most disarming smile.

An employee appeared, informing them that lunch was ready and asked them to sit down. They chose a table by the window, and if anyone was spying, they would see a group of friends eating a casual get to know you lunch. Laura had an open and engaging personality and the conversation flowed. She asked few questions about their work, probably because she possessed that innate intuition to let secrets be secrets, or maybe it was because privacy was part of her job. She and Clint would often catch each other's eyes and exchange smiles, and Bucky saw him wink at her several times. The two were smitten with each other. 

“So Natasha brought us together,” she said, in answer to a question from Thula. “She switched something on Clint’s chart so they dismissed me as his therapist and since he was no longer my client, I visited him after hours and since it worked out, I won’t tell on her.”

“I’m never playing matchmaker with my friends again,” Natasha said. “I was constantly worrying. What if it doesn’t work out and he blames me? I took the chance because I never thanked Clint for rescuing me, so I thought of it as paying a debt.”

“What a wonderful story!” Thula said, and a smile settled on her face as she looked out the window. She was having a good time here, and Bucky hated the thought of ruining it for her. 

The meal ended, and Clint escorted Laura out of the room. The group got up from the table to allow the workers to clean up but didn’t leave. Bucky stood by the window for a while, contemplating his options. He saw Clint and Laura walking down the long drive and a car pulled up. Clint opened the door and spoke to the driver. He exchanged a few words with Laura, kissed her on the cheek before she got in their car and stood there while the car drove away. It took a few minutes for him to join them.

“Thula, would you mind getting your phone now?” Bucky asked, smiling again. 

“Of course!” She returned the smile and left the room. Their quarters were on the other side of the building and her walking at a normal pace would take at least twenty minutes. As soon as the door closed behind her, he turned to Steve. “We should look at the pictures she took yesterday and see if we spot anything and while she’s gone…” he turned to the rest of the room, “there’s something we need to tell the rest of you.”

He took out his phone and passed it around. There wasn’t much to tell and between him and Steve, the whole story was out in less than five minutes. Each one of them studied the files on the phone, and the same scowl of revulsion crossed each face as they looked over the contents.

“I have to say, I’m shocked,” Natasha said. “I was young but I remember this. This was like… Bobby Kennedy getting shot. A great hope for the future. Everyone loved him. A great tragedy. Who knew he was a secret monster. And The Asset took him out?" No one else in the room would have the gall to ask him that question in such a casual manner, but Bucky knew she of all people immediately would understand.

"Yes," he said, as firmly as he could. "I did. I'm the answer to all the conspiracy theories. The one no one never thought of because I may or may not have existed but I did." The rest of the room was silent for a moment, processing this revelation. "And that's why I need to know if what they are saying is true, and if it is, I think we should do all we can to stop this thing from spreading."

“We have to determine if this is even real or not. Natasha, it’s your job to find out if these accusations have even a hint of credibility,” Steve said. “Even if we decide not to help…” Bucky knew those words were for his benefit. “We should at least be aware of what’s going on in that region of the world.”

She nodded. “I’m on it. I’ll contact my reporter friend who helped us when we took down the Consortiums. If there was even a whisper of this anywhere, he’ll tell me.”

“Sam, do you think we should let Thula in on this?” Bucky asked. 

“We like to keep things separate, but they, whoever they know who she is,” Sam leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. “Damn it, I thought we could go for a few weeks of just being… normal. She doesn’t ask about the missions, but this is something we should tell her.”

“If she’s being followed, she should know," Natasha said. “Keep her on her guard, but don’t frighten her. Tell her. She’s not a child.”

Thula entered the room at that moment, holding her phone which she handed to Bucky. He scrolled through it, recognizing many of the shots, but then he saw it. She took a picture of the restaurant before they entered and there was Casimire, standing with the would-be patrons. No surprise there. 

He laid the phone to the side and smiled at her. She smiled back, uncertainty in her eyes. 

“We have something we need to tell you,” Bucky said, “about something that happened to us today. The world knows about me, about my life, before this, the things I did…”

“The things they forced you to do. We cannot even say it was against your will because they took that from you. That was not you. This is you.”

Bucky would never cease to be grateful for the Wakandan’s total defense and acceptance of him. It was humbling. 

“Thank you,” he said. He had to stop and swallow for a moment before continuing. He summoned up the morning’s events as succinctly as possible. As he finished, he handed his phone to her and showed her the files. She scrolled through them, then stared at one picture for a full minute before speaking, the same look of revulsion crossing her face.

"Is this true?" She asked.

“That’s what we’re going to find out,” Bucky replied.

She handed the phone back, “If this is true, then you must stop them. What do you want me to do?” A collective sigh of relief went around the table. 

"Told you," Steve said, with a slight smirk on his face. Bucky ignored the jab.

"You and Sam, continue to enjoy your trip," Steve continued. "Do all the things you were planning on doing. It seems it’s me and Bucky that they want to work for them, and if this information is true, we’ll weigh our options and decide on whether to help them. We’ll assign some security people to you, probably a man and a woman, who will follow you. You won’t even know who they are, but we’re working with a lot of unknowns, and we thought you should know.” 

“Thank you for telling me,” she said. 

“There is one thing you have to promise me and understand, it will probably never come to this, but if you find yourself alone, separated from us, get yourself to the Wakandan Embassy by any means possible. Tell someone in authority, take a cab, make a scene in the middle of the street if you have to, but get yourself there,” Bucky said.

She nodded. “I understand.”

“But it probably won’t come to that,” Steve said. 

"I need to take both your phones, just long enough to download all this and run it through some facial recognition software,” Natasha said as she stood up and pushed her chair under the table. “Won’t take long."

“Captain Rogers!” Jerry’s voice broke through and he appeared as a hologram in the middle of the room. 

“What is it?” Steve asked. Another hologram appeared beside him, of their apartment building. 

“I sent one of our people to retrieve your possessions, and this greeted her when she got there.” The computer zoomed in on the building, revealing emergency vehicles on the street, flashing lights and people being transported. “The building was on fire, but the early warning and fire suppression systems worked, so no casualties among the residents. The fire appears to have started in an empty upper maintenance corridor. The company contracted to take care of the building’s maintenance needs were off today. The first responders found a body there, near signs of an obvious struggle and someone broke into your apartment, but nothing was missing. The deceased is not an employee.” 

A picture appeared on the screen. Soot covered the body, but the well-tailored suit was still recognizable. 

“Casimir,” Bucky said. 


	6. Chapter 6

“Our operative retrieved your things without being seen. Tony didn’t tell anyone outside the team you were occupying the apartment, so as far as anyone else knows, you were never there. We’re cooperating with the authorities as far as the fire goes, but the rest, we’re keeping to ourselves. We’re checking the building security systems even as we speak,” Jerry said, but his voice sounded far away. 

“Bucky, whatever happened, this wasn’t your fault,” Steve said. Images of the mysterious visitors floated in the air, composite sketches created from their eidetic memories, along with their cryptic message. Casimir’s face was haunting.

“They came looking for me,” Bucky said. Old familiar darkness was taking root in his psychic.

“We’re not sure what’s really going on,” Natasha said, as she handed his phone back to him. “And it’s not like they asked for your protection.”

“A man is dead,” Bucky said flatly taking the phone, doing his best to shake off the oncoming depression. “What did you find out?”

“You were right, you were being followed. Saw the same guy over and over in Thula’s pictures, although he stopped following you after you left the restaurant. Saw a woman who might have matched one of your descriptions at Ellis Island.” She shoved a printed picture over to them. Steve picked it up and studied it, then nodded.

“That’s her,” he said.

“Who are these people?” Clint asked. “We need real names.”

“My reporter friend said there are extremists at work in the country, but their following is tiny and he’s never heard of any kind of high up political conspiracy like this, and there is no connection to these people, but he has heard whispers about Visnovsky himself for a while, but it was hard to find any hard proof, but then someone in a position of power can easily threaten their victims into silence. He'll do what he can on his end.”

“No smoke without some kind of fire,” Sam said. “So what should we do? Business as usual? We were planning on going to the Bronx zoo this afternoon.”

“Go ahead,” Jerry said. ‘We’ll have our operatives with you, and if we need you, we’ll give the signal and whisk Thula off to the Embassy if we have to.”

“She’ll love that,” Sam said. He got up from the table. They had reassembled in the conference room. He joined Thula who was standing by the window. They exchanged a few words, she nodded and the two of them left. At that moment a beep came from Jerry’s watch.

“Security update. They found something. Be right back,” he said, leaving the room. 

Natasha watched him go, then turned her attention to Bucky. She sat down across from him and reached out to touch his hand. 

“I can’t say I know exactly what you’re feeling, but I think I can understand more than anyone else here. There’s red in your ledger that you want to wipe away... if I thought for a minute that I had taken out a monster back during those days, that I might have prevented suffering, I’d be over the moon. This might sound strange, but I hope this is true.”

“Thank you,” Bucky said. A small light gleamed through the gloom. 

“We have a name,” Jerry said as he re-entered the room. “Casimir is, was, Aleksander Wolinsk. He’s from Demino, in Krakestan. There’s not a lot to say about him. Mid Tier Government worker, nothing scandalous, but there is this...” Waving his hands resulted in a picture of a handsome young man who resembled him. “His brother, Stojan. Former soldier. Began using drugs after his discharge and committed suicide not long after.” The room went silent for a few moments as the young man stared back at them. It was his imagination, but Bucky felt his pain and the sting of being used.

“Classic behavior of someone forced to carry out illegal orders?” Natasha’s question was more of a statement. “Did he have any other family?”

“Not that we can tell.” 

At that moment Natasha’s phone beeped. She looked at it and let out a sigh. “Mara is Iliana Borsa.” The name on the floating image changed. “It seems her grandparents died around this time. No cause of death... they just disappeared. Probable victims.”

“I would assume that if we find out who Luka and Dejan are, their stories might be similar,” Steve said.

“This adds some credibility to their stories at least,” Clint added. 

“So how do we find them?” Bucky asked. “They probably went into deep cover.”

“Unless one of them was working both sides, and they fought among themselves,” Jerry said. Bucky had considered that possibility. “The kid’s smart, but we traced his location, after following a lot of bounced signals, where he did his actual work, an empty apartment close to yours. Nobody there now, but we’re watching the cams.”

“Facial recognition is being searched through all the cameras in the city,” Natasha said. “We’re doing everything we can to find them and their possible pursers.”

Bucky would never understand how any of this worked but had faith in everything they were doing. “Can you call up blueprints of the UN and the Krakestan Embassy?” He asked. “And the location of these conspirators?”

Jerry nodded, walking to another corner of the room, spoke a few words and threw up holograms of the things Bucky requested. He walked through the wall of images. Once on the other side, they surrounded him. Steve joined him inside the glittery techno cave. 

He pointed to the security hub of the UN and that section of the image grew larger. He studied it. “They’ve updated it since I was there last.” He zoomed in on Conference room four.

“If we get involved, I don’t want to do anything in a public setting, except as a last resort,” Steve said. 

Steve’s indecisiveness grated on him. Bucky zoomed in on the schematic of the Embassy and zoomed out again. "You're right, and we don't want to cause an international incident if we can help it,” he said. "Not yet, anyway."

“I’m still not sure why they called on us,” Steve said. “All they want is for us to help them expose this supposed network. They’re not likely to be doing anything criminal here, and we can’t just pick up and travel to Krakestan, a country I’ve never heard of. I’m not even sure where it is.”

At that moment, Natasha stepped through the wall of the gold script to join them. She said nothing for a few minutes but joined them in studying the blueprints.

“Cint’s girlfriend seems... nice,” Steve said. “Thanks for warning me. So you’re responsible for that?”

“I sort of had to step in,” she responded. “I mean, how could I not? Bruce and I had a big fight over it.”

“So that’s what that’s about,” Steve said. Bucky wondered what they were talking about.

“Yeah, that’s what that was about,” Natasha said. “But we made up. Wonder how they’re doing and if we should call them in?”

“I admit, I wish Peter was here,” Steve said as he swiveled around studying the holograms. “ He can translate some of this techno talk. But this looks like a job for the ‘small guns.”

Natasha laughed. “I can ask. He’d be happy to help, that is he doesn’t have any homework.”

“If we can find Luka, he might open up more to someone his age who has similar interests,” Steve mused. “Go ahead, ask.”

“But don’t tell him why until he gets here,” Bucky said. “Just tell him we need him and ask him to trust us. We should keep this to ourselves as much as possible, for now."

"Understood," Natasha said.

Bucky ran his finger over an image of one member of the alleged network. Troian Kral. A news report didn’t reveal enough for him to get a handle on the man. He did the same with the others, with similar results. The interviews were choppy and used bad lighting. He called up information on them, but apart from their political careers, their biographies were skimpy on details. He needed to know more about these people.

“Can we get someone in on those UN meetings?” he asked. “Not anyone of Tony’s operatives, but someone who would have a clear reason to be there without people asking questions. I want an objective look at these people.”

“I know the perfect person,” Natasha said. “Thula.”

“Thula? She works for the Wakandan Wildlife Commission. She’s a vet tech,” Bucky said.

“A most honorable profession,” Natasha said. “Not something I would want to do. Can you imagine waiting around for a drugged elephant to wake up? But the conference is about environmental concerns. I would imagine the two disciplines would overlap. If anyone is following her around, she’s been visiting zoos and natural history museums. She’s from Wakanda. They know all kinds of ways to keep the air and water clean, keep animals from going extinct...”

“I can follow the logic up to a point, but we've not trained her...” Steve began.

‘She’ll have Sam with her. That shouldn’t raise any eyebrows. Everyone knows he’s been living in Wakanda for the past year and as far as anyone knows, he’s just taking his girlfriend on a tour of New York City. All they have to do is show up for one of the public tours at the UN, and while there, slip into the conference. It’s not a closed meeting. We’ll kit them up with the usual tech and they can bring it home for us to study. They don’t have to do anything except sit there and listen.”

‘If she agrees, it might work,” Steve said. “We’ll ask as soon as they get back, but how will they get in with an electronic recording device past UN security?"

“Leave that to me,” Natasha said, with a smile. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I could think you were enjoying yourself,” Bucky said. 

“A little, and if we can rid the world of a few more monsters, it’s worth it. See you in a few, I’m off to chat with Peter.” She slipped through the golden curtain and out of the room.

Over on the other side of the room, Clint and Jerry were in deep conversation about something. Bucky walked out of their high-tech bubble and back into the real world. Steve stayed inside, staring at a map.

“So, you have a plan of attack?” Clint asked.

“We know a little more than we did,” Steve said. “Clint, can you do surveillance of the apartment and the one where the signals came from? They have cameras on it, but I want eyes on the ground. This kid is smart, and might get around that...”

“Sure thing. I’m on it Cap,” Clint said as he left the room.”

Jerry stared after him for a moment, then turned his attention back around. “I assume, if we find these people, we bring them here?” He asked.

"Yes, Keep it quiet, among ourselves, and who knows, it might best way to get the truth out of them,” Steve said. "Unless we can prove they set the fire and had anything to do with Casimir's death, they've committed no crime. Wonder if there's a way we can find out how he died if it was from the fire or..."

"Mr. Stark knows people. I can try pulling a few strings," Jerry said.

"I need to go regroup," Bucky said. The information meshed together in his head. He was being bombarded with endless streams of data and he needed quiet to sort things out. Everything was getting to be too much at the moment.

“And I need to go catch up on Eastern European history here,” Steve said. “I missed a lot. I don’t recognize most of these names. The countries and boundaries are different.”

“A peaceful region," Bucky said. There were upheavals several years ago, some totalitarian governments overthrown, but the populations adjusted. The Consortiums never really took hold there, but they tried.”

“If these people want to come into power, why did they wait until now?” Steve asked. 

“Maybe because the Consortiums are gone? I don’t know,” Bucky said. “I’ll see you, back in the room. I need to think.”

His walk back to the other side of the compound was anything but silent. The sound of his boots echoed down the long hallways until he came to Steve’s old room, and the first thing he saw once inside was their luggage, on the bed. He didn’t move them, opting to sit beside them and go through the information on his phone again. 

_A few yards ahead of us, a fight broke out. The soldier guarding us took a few steps forward, taking his eyes off us, and we took our chance, one of our group got him a chokehold, silencing him, another grabbed his weapon, and knocked him out, which allowed us to flee into the forest. The fight ahead of us continued for a few minutes and some time passed before they noted our absence. Someone chased us, but a young man in our company, I will call him Sokol, was from the area and led us to a cave and the guards passed us by. It wasn’t long after that we heard in the far distance the faint sound of screams and shots; they were far away, but close enough for us to realize what had happened. We stayed in the cave for a day and a night, and then Sokol led us to a small remote town, where they took care of us._

_Someone in the town gave us a_ _camera, so we took a chance, returned to the deep forest and discovered the graves, and we took pictures, as you see. It was terrible. A few days later, word came to us of another column of prisoners, but this one was much smaller and guarded by only two soldiers. We arrived too late for some, but we documented what we saw, and then, with the rifle we had commandeered earlier, shot one soldier and threw him the grave... but the other escaped. The one who escaped was Mile Kulkov known to the world as Niklaus Visnovsky. I believe he returned to the scene of the massacre after we left and changed identities with the dead soldier. We should have taken care of that, but our minds were on the survivors. We had to get them away from there as soon as possible. I accuse him before the world and name him the butcher of Coru._ _We rejoiced when the assassin’s bullet killed him before he took power before his evil ideas became law._

_I accuse those who follow in his footsteps, who are trying even now to resurrect his hideous doctrine and repeat this history._

A list of names followed. The people were to be at the U.N. later in the week.

Troian Kral

Tomo Sedlak

Goran Chladek

Raina Capek

_We rejoiced when the assassin’s bullet killed him before he took power._

He turned off the phone. He couldn’t remember much about what he did, but he remembered the fallout. The chaos he created, reading the headlines afterward. Guilt didn’t surface until long after his memories came back. This almost seemed like a return to those times, a return to the darkness but this time was different. He wanted to whisk these people away to judgment, but he couldn’t, not yet, and it was frustrating. It was never a spoken thing, but there was a part of him that wanted to set right everything the other guy had done. The missions with the team helped, but apart from what happened to David Ward in Wakanda, all of his past sins remained intact, unredeemed, nothing set right, and even Tony had to step in and fix that. Bucky had written it all off as an impossible dream.

He needed something to do. Sitting here staring at his phone wouldn't help, his ideas came to him when he was busy. He had nothing else to do, so he unzipped his suitcase, intending to unpack.

There, on the top of his belongings, was a plain white envelope. He stared at it for a long time, wondering where it came from. For a moment he thought that it might be from Steve, but that wasn’t his style. He picked it up with his left hand, even though he knew there would be no fingerprints on this. He laid it down and opened it with one hand. 

_Mr. Barnes, we know who you are,_ _what you have done, and who you are now. You wish to make a fresh start and for the world to see you differently. Consider this a warning. Do not allow yourself to fall into the trap of believing lies about these good people. If you help these vigilantes, it will send the country onto the path of destruction which is something we cannot afford in this region of the world and your reputation will never be rehabilitated._

He read the note, again and again, re-examined the envelope and looked over the back of the paper. Nothing else was there to give any clues to the sender. Whoever had wrecked their apartment must have left this. Who else had been in there...how could they have known they were there?

He threw the note down in disgust, and paced around the room, taking the time to hit the wall, leaving a dent. He knew from experience this didn’t help, but this was just another broken link in a broken chain. He glanced down at the open suitcase and noticed another anomaly. He thought the person sent to collect this had been in a rush to get in and get out. Someone took the time to pack the suitcase in a neat and tidy manner. He opened Steve’s. Everything inside was the same. All his clothes folded and not just thrown together. Someone had taken their time and was messing with them, almost like a joke, but it wasn't funny. Playing around with his emotions, working on his memories and his past, reminded him of someone he had almost forgotten. Someone who used to do small things like this just to keep them off guard. The building anger and frustration inside of him needed release.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite the gift of rapid healing, Steve still felt pain after a fight, and now he was getting one of his rare headaches. The history of Eastern Europe in this Universe was just as complicated as it had been back in his world, but at least now he could fill in the blanks.

“We found out how they got in,” Jerry’s voice broke his concentration from the other side of the room. Steve welcomed the interruption. “The maintenance contractors had the day off. Your friends found out and bought some uniforms and showed up in their place. We had them on camera entering by a service entrance, can’t see their faces, but we knew it was them by comparing their height. No one on the real team is the same size as Luka or Mara.” 

“We’re still calling them by their code names?” Steve asked.

“They were right. They are easier to pronounce. I never got the hang of…” a loud bang interrupted Jerry as the door opened hard, hitting the wall with such force Steve thought it would come off its hinges. Bucky stood there in the open archway, his tight jaw and that dark look meant only one thing. Pure anger.

He walked up to Jerry and a moment Steve was afraid he would hit him and prepared himself to intervene, but Bucky stopped short of Jerry’s face.

“The operative you sent to the apartment. Who was it?” He asked, not changing his expression.

Jerry steadied himself. “Her name is Suzanne Williams. Why?”

“How long has she worked here?” Bucky asked.

“Five years. She’s a model employee. What’s this about?”

“Can I talk to her?” Bucky demanded.

“Not until you calm down!” Steve interjected himself into the conversation. 

Bucky stepped back and took a deep breath, letting it out in small increments, and walked around in a short circle before facing them again. “I’m sorry. May I please speak to her?” This time his tone was slow and deliberate.

“Are you going to yell at her, or accuse her of anything?” Jerry asked. ‘Because I can’t allow that to happen.” Steve admired him. Few people stood up to Bucky when he was like this.

"No. I would just like to ask her a few questions," Bucky said, his politeness forced.

“How about you ask me the questions, and I ask her?” Jerry said.

Bucky took a step back and stared down at the floor for a moment before looking up again. “I want to know what state of the apartment was in when she got there, and if she packed the suitcases.”

“That’s what you’re getting mad about?” Steve asked because Jerry couldn’t. “Is something missing? There was nothing valuable…”

“It’s not about that. Just… call her up and ask. I’ll tell you why, after I hear what she has to say.”

Jerry punched something and the face of a young auburn-haired woman appeared.

“Yes, Jerry?” She asked.

“We have some questions for you about this afternoon. What was the state of the apartment?”

“A typical break-in. I took a video. Drawers and closets opened, things scattered around, the balcony looked a mess, they tipped all the plants over, someone was looking for something.”

"Did you pack the suitcases?” Bucky asked.

She stared at him; her face twisting into confusion. "They were there, on the bed, all ready to go. I grabbed them and left. I thought it strange they messed up the place and left that untouched."

“Thank you. Send the video on,” Jerry said. He punched something else in the air and Suzanne disappeared.

"So that explains that, ” Steve said. “That wasn’t us. We didn’t pack a thing. We weren’t planning on coming here until after our visit with our new contacts." Steve didn't know what else to call them."Someone else was in there…"

“Everything in the cases is nice and folded. Someone took their time. And not only that…” Bucky pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to Steve with his metal hand. 

_Mr. Barnes, we know who you are, what you have done, and who you are now. You wish to make a fresh start and for the world to see you differently. Consider this a warning. Do not allow yourself to fall into the trap of believing lies about these good people. If you help these vigilantes, it will send the country onto the path of destruction which is something we cannot afford in this region of the world and your reputation will never be rehabilitated._

“And before you ask, it was in a plain white envelope, and I'm sure there were no fingerprints,” Bucky said.

Something about the message was familiar. Steve whispered the words to himself. The rhythm, the choice of words. It was almost there…

“Good news!” Natasha entered the room disrupting his unscientific analysis. “Peter can make it, and we found Luka by facial recognition. He’s staying at an immigrant hostel.” She seemed to be aware of the tension in the room. “What’s going on?” she asked. 

“Tell Peter to turn around. We’re not doing anything,” Bucky said. “I will not get jerked around by…”

At that moment, a video appeared with time stamps. The wrecked apartment, drawers open. There was a noise from outside and a moment on the balcony where the plants and the remains of their meal from last night strewn about, then a moment over the edge, showing activity with the emergency vehicles below. There was a hurried portion where she returned to the bedroom, the luggage on the bed, her hand on the handle of one case, and then the video shut off.

“What is going on? What did I miss?” Natasha asked. Steve told her. Bucky insisted on pacing around the room. He took the time to kick a chair. 

“Buck, calm down!” Steve felt like a frustrated parent. Bucky sat down and crossed his arms and glared at him. Steve didn’t take it personally. “For whatever it’s worth, I don’t believe Ms. Williams had anything to do with this,” Steve said holding up the note. “She did her job. Nat, where’s Vision? Did he go with the others?”

“No. Most of the time, he and Wanda are like you two, joined at the hip, but he stayed in Wakanda. Since he became sentient again, he and Shuri have been working on …”

“We need to call him. I want him to analyze this. There’s something familiar about it.”

“Vision?”

“He can detect patterns in humans in a way that’s denied to us mere mortals. I want him to tell me who this sounds like…”

“Okay,” she nodded but didn’t look convinced. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and spoke a number, then tilted the phone toward a wall. After a moment, their friend appeared in his human form.

“Captain Rogers, Natasha, Bucky, Jerry, hello. This is a surprise. Is the team all right? Mission going as planned? The last I heard…” This was his roundabout way of asking about Wanda.

“Mission is going as planned,” Natasha said. “As far as we are aware, everyone is ok. That’s not why we’re calling. I’m going to send you a note, and I want you to analyze it and determine the likely author.”

Natasha took a picture of the message and sent it on. He read it and went into his analytical mode, his eyes a blank, staring into some void that only he could understand. After a few minutes, life came back to his eyes, and he smiled into the camera.

“Curious,” he said. 

“Who do you believe wrote this?” Steve asked.

“You understand this is my most likely theory, compared to the information that I have stored in my data…”

“We understand,” Steve said. “Who wrote this?”

“It is my opinion, based on speech and written patterns, that the author of that note is our friend, and I use that word loosely, Nick Fury.”

Natasha almost dropped her phone, and Bucky jumped to his feet.

“Oh damn,” Jerry said. “No, anyone but him.”

“Oh hell,” Bucky said. “I knew it. The last thing we need. Are you sure?”

“As sure as I can be. I understand this news might be unwelcome, but it is my expert opinion…”

“No, thank you, Vision. That will be all for now. Thank you,” Steve said. Vision nodded and smiled at them as his image disappeared.

He and Natasha exchanged confused looks. “Jerry, could you excuse us, for a few minutes…”

“No problem. I will not be responsible for telling Mr. Stark about this. Take on the job yourselves. The less I know, the better. I wish I didn’t know this much.” He almost ran out of the room.

“Bucky, what’s the problem with Nick Fury ?” Steve asked.

Bucky’s eyes flitted back and forth between them. “What was he like… where you came from?”

“He was our boss for a while and our friend. Always showing up when we least expected. He was a good guy, but secretive. Someone said his secrets had secrets. What’s the problem here?”

“The secretive thing is the same, but he wasn’t anybody’s boss or friend. We didn’t have a team, not like we do now, we just came together when anyone asked for help, but when we were needed, he and Stark would fight over who was the real leader. He has his agenda. He and Tony had a big falling out.”

“Over what?”

“Over who, not what. Peter. Tony wanted to make him part of the team and Fury was against it. Said he was too young, and he might have been right. Had a big fight about it, Tony won, Fury disappeared. Haven’t seen him in over a year… not since you all showed up. I hoped he was leaving us alone for good. Caused a lot of conflicts when he was around. Him sending anonymous messages is just his style.”

“Why would he be mixed up in this?” Natasha asked.

“Who the hell knows,” Bucky said. “But if he has anything to do with this, I’m out.”

“Why?” Steve couldn’t connect this version of Fury with his old friend.

“Because the man never gave us a reason for the things he did. He would just swoop in, ask for help, we’d do whatever, leave us to clean up the mess, and he’d disappear. He would do these random things just so we couldn't predict his next move and throw us off track. We wasted so much time investigating phony evidence he'd leave behind, just so he could disappear when we weren't looking, " Buck stopped for a moment, sat back down, then laughed. “I’ve changed my mind. He knows nothing about what happened, what you did, how you’re different people now. Him showing up, it’ll confuse the hell out of him, because your personalities are different. Maybe I will hang around if he shows up… and watch the fireworks.”

Steve suddenly felt exhausted. Not physically, but being here, in this room, surrounded by all the holograms and images was taking a toll and this latest information didn't help. He needed to take a break and think things out away from here. Rubbing his hand through his hair, he noted Natasha staring at his hand. He had almost forgotten the ring.

“What’s this?” she asked. It brought back a long-ago memory of her trying to fix him up with random women, and his response about shared life experiences.

“It's an anniversary present,” he said, glancing over at Bucky, who shifted in his chair. He hoped she wouldn’t make a big deal out of it, for his sake. 

The woman knew how to read a room. “It's beautiful,” she said and left it at that. “So, Peter will be here soon. I don’t know what to tell him.”

“We can still try to find the rest of our new friends, bring them here, see if we can get the truth out of them,” Steve said. “Peter can help us with that, at least as far as Luka is concerned. I need to take a break, for a few minutes anyway. Let me know if anything else comes up,” he said. He stopped by Bucky long enough to nod his head toward the still-open door. Bucky didn’t seem too thrilled at the idea but followed him out of the room.

Once there, he noted the two open suitcases. With nothing else to do, he started to unpack. Bucky was right, someone took great care in putting their things away. 

“How did they know what was mine and what was yours?” He asked. “Although some of the one-armed t-shirts might have been a giveaway.”

Bucky flopped down in a chair. “ Don’t those apartments have security cameras?”

“Normally, but Jerry told me Tony turned them off while we were there…”

"Why the hell did he do that?” Bucky asked, then a moment of embarrassed realization crossed his face. “Oh. That’s why people kept apologizing about…"

“Interrupting us.” Steve finished. “No one was supposed to know we were there.”

"Somebody knew,” Bucky said. "Somebody already in the system, who knew all our movements, knew." Neither one spoke for a few moments while Steve continued to unpack. “I’m sorry about losing it out there, it was childish.”

“Yes it was, but I don’t think anyone can blame you. No one enjoys being used, and with your situation…”

“Part of me wishes…” Bucky started but stopped abruptly. Steve glanced over at him. Bucky looked away, refusing to meet his eyes. His companion prided himself on reading Steve’s tells, but Steve had his method of reading Bucky.

“That we had never come here,” Steve said. “If we’d stayed in Wakanda, it would have been impossible for them to approach us. We’d just go on living our lives in happy ignorance. I may not have been a spy, like you and Natasha, but I can read you. I understand.”

“You’re always so damn understanding.” Bucky stood up and emptied his case on the bed and started to stuff his things away in drawers with no rhyme or reason, venting his frustration.

“Buck, it’s ok!” He reached and grabbed him by the arms, forcing him to stop, and pulling him around so they faced each other. “I admit, I don’t like trying to stop something before it starts because that’s how innocent people get hurt, but this isn’t about that. I know what you want. You want to prove that Visnovsky was a monster. You want something good to have come out of your nightmare. I don’t blame you but we can’t go mixing ourselves up in what looks like local politics…”

A knock on the door interrupted their talk. Bucky jumped away from him and sat back down. 

“Yes,” Steve called out.

It was Natasha. “They’ve got Luka, and they’re bringing him here, and Peter will arrive in about thirty minutes.”

Steve took a deep breath, his glance bounced back and forth between his life partner and his good friend. 

“Take Luka to the holding area, make sure he’s comfortable, feed him if you have to,” he hesitated a moment before continuing. “So either of you up to schooling Peter Parker in the fine art of interrogation?” 


	8. Chapter 8

Luka sat still in the room holding onto a bottle of water. Before Steve had barely glanced at the young man, but now he could see how young he was, and now he was more scared than confident.

“Still think this is a good idea?” Bucky asked. The security cam insisted on refocusing itself, making the image on the monitor in front of them go larger and smaller before finding a suitable ratio.

“Peter will be okay,” Natasha said. “I trained him myself.”

“For thirty whole minutes,” Bucky said. 

“He’s smart, a brain like a sponge, besides, this isn’t a real interrogation. It’s two kids with a common interest getting to know each other,” she said.

“That’s no guarantee of anything. What if they hate each other?” Bucky persisted.

“What if you just relax and let him do the work?” Steve asked. He and Bucky had been snapping at each other for the past hour. The usually composed Bucky was exuding nervous energy because of his clouded judgment and it was getting annoying, but that was a conversation for later. “All we want is for the kid to talk, to tell us anything we can use.”

The door opened and Peter bounded into the room. The camera zoomed in on him for a second, identified him, and zoomed back out again. For someone able to crawl up a wall without making a noise when he was with the team, he had a hard time being quiet when he was himself. If the situation had been any different, the surprise on Luka’s face would have been comical.

“Hi! I’m Peter. I understand you are Luka?” Peter sat down opposite of him and stuck out his hand. Luka, the shock still on his face, took it and gave it a small shake.

“You are not what I expected,” he said, his accent thick. “Do you work for them?”

“Work for them? No. With them, sometimes.”

“What do you do?”

“Pretty much, what you do,” Peter said. “I like to hack things, but I never tried to get into Mr. Stark’s system.”

“Very good, Peter,” Natasha murmured. Bucky let out a loud sigh. 

“And you want me to tell you how I did it,” Luka said. His eyes fixated on the opposite wall and his face became a mask. He was withdrawing.

“Not unless you want to,” Peter said. “And yes, but not that it would do me any good. They’ve probably already patched that hole. I need you to tell me what happened in the apartment building. What happened to your friend?”

“Who is watching us?” 

“Steve and Bucky. The rest of the team is on a mission. There’s no police here, we can’t arrest anyone and I promise, after you tell us your story, you’re free to go.”

“NO!” Luka’s hold on the bottle tightened. Steve was afraid it would pop. “I need to stay. I can’t go back out there!”

“Sure, I guess we can arrange that,” Peter said. “But if you want us to help your cause, be honest with us.”

“That fear is real,” Natasha said. She glanced over at Bucky who nodded in agreement. 

“After they left, Captain Rogers and…I don't know what to call him. We always referred to him as the Asset but after having met him… he’s not what I imagined. Neither was Captain Rogers, now that I think about it. They told us he was short-tempered and impatient, but this man seemed..."

“He tells us to call him Bucky,” Peter said deflecting his observations like a pro, impressing Steve. “Go on.”

“After Captain Rogers and Bucky left the building, we headed toward the service elevator. They would soon discover my modifications to the system, so we had to get out of there. We were halfway down the hall when everything turned black. No lights.”

Peter swallowed, and Steve could tell he was trying not to look at the camera. “There wasn’t a blackout reported from anyone else,” he said.

“Good job!” Natasha said. 

“Did you ever consider becoming a cheerleader?” Bucky asked. Steve gave him an evil eye, and he stopped pacing.

“I don’t know about that,” Luka continued. “The hallway we were in, everything was black. The controls were, in a small room, I wanted to go there… but Casimire told us to go ahead, he would check it out. I heard him walking back. Some emergency lights came on, yellow lights. We waited, but all the alarms sounded. We knew it wouldn't take long for the responders to check out our location and someone somewhere would know it was the source of the tampering. Mara had the folders, in a briefcase, she had to get out, she grabbed my hand and we used the service elevator. No one saw us when we left the building, and we split up. We were to meet at the hostel. I got there and saw reports of what happened on the news, we did not do that, I swear. I waited, but she never showed up but your people did… and they told me about Casimir. I don’t know what happened to him, or the others.”

"Did you see anyone else in the building?"

“No! We were ready to leave, and we were planning on coming back tomorrow…but it was dark. If there was anyone else there, I didn't see them."

“Did you put the tracker on Bucky’s phone?”

“Yes, it was a spur-of-the-moment thing, and not very good, but we had to make other plans if he called the police and I wanted to find him again if we had to. How did they disable it?”

“You’re good,” Peter said, ignoring his question. “Were your people in the vehicle that followed Cap and Bucky?”

Puzzlement crossed his face. “No, we never got that far. Unless Dejan did it on his own, but I know nothing about that.”

Peter said nothing for a moment. Luka seized the opportunity to take a drink. “I need you to tell me one more thing… what’s your real name and why are you mixed up in this?”

“My name is Luka, Luka Yellin, but that is not my real name. I don’t know my real name.”

“Can you explain that?”

“They targeted my family during the Purge, they practiced the wrong religion. They had to escape through a difficult route, that meant hiding in people’s attics and basements and barns. I was a baby, and they were afraid I would give them away, so they gave me to a family friendly to our cause, they raised me. They kept them in the dark about my identity for their protection. I had a good life, they were my family, but I have been looking for my people for years. They may have gotten away, or murdered in the Purge. I needed to know. I started asking questions, and Mara contacted me. She found out about my interests, it wasn’t hard to do, my academic life, my hobbies are all out there for anyone to find and she asked me to join their group. They used code names, but I use my own hoping someday… someone might recognize it.”

A small dial appeared on the monitor. It spiraled around as Luka spoke and turned green. 

“He’s telling the truth,” Natasha said. “And we can look up Luka Yellin, easily enough to confirm.”

“I agree,” Bucky said. “So do we let him stay?”

"Yes. What he has told us is true, he is frighted, but he's holding something back," Natasha said. 

"What's he so afraid of," Steve mused, half to himself.

"Isn't it obvious?" Bucky asked. "People in power, people who don't want to be exposed..."

'Bucky," Steve began. "That might be what they want us to act on. We need more intel..."

"How much more do we need?" He asked. He was close to shouting. It was a good thing the room had no furniture. It would all be broken by now.

Natasha cleared her throat loudly, her effort at dispelling the tension. “Since we know the approximate location of these alleged mass graves, my reporter friend will get some people over there and see what they find, maybe even some extant DNA, and we’ll have to wait until we can find out Casimir's cause of death, so for now, all we can do is wait. It's late. I’m going to get our guest settled in.” She left the room.

Steve glanced over at Bucky, who kept his eyes glued to the monitor. After a few minutes, Natasha entered the room, once again the camera zoomed in and identified her. She extended her hand to Luka, smiled at him, introduced herself and engaged him in some small talk. He stared at her for a long moment. At first, Steve thought she distracted him because she was a pretty woman, but that wasn't the cause of his surprise.. It was the same look of confusion he had when talking about the Steve Rogers that was, the man he replaced. After he appeared to relax, she led him and Peter from the room. Steve’s rubbed his eyes and glanced at the window. It was dark.

“Been a long day,” he said. Bucky didn’t speak. 

“Buck, are you okay?” He asked. His companion turned toward him, and his eyes were unfocused.

“I’m tired of being stuck here, while people on the other side of the world are doing things,” he said. “Does that answer your question?” His jaws tightened. “I just want this to be true, Steve.”“I know you do,” Steve replied. He reached out and pulled him into an embrace. Bucky’s muscles were hard, his hands and jaws clenched. Steve ran his hand up and down his back, he felt his muscles loosen. “Let’s turn in, get some sleep. This will still be here in the morning…” Bucky pulled away, but Steve insisted on holding his hand as they walked.

They left the room, walking through the halls together until they reached their quarters. They heard voices from around the corner, and then Sam and Thula appeared, making it back after their day out.

“Hey,” Sam said walking up to them. 

“You had an uneventful afternoon, I hope,” Steve asked.

“As far as we know. No one bothered us, and if someone was following us, we didn’t notice. Took lots of pictures if you all want to see them later,” Sam replied. 

“We will, tomorrow. Right now we all need to get some rest. We found one of them, the kid, Luka.”

“Did he talk?” Sam asked.

“Some,” Bucky said. Steve glanced over at him, noting that he wasn’t looking at their friends. His head was moving around, his eyes were flitting around the hallway, and he kept shuffling his feet. Not for the first time, Steve wished he could sit down and drink a beer with him, or do anything to help him calm down.

“Even Super Soldiers need to rest,” Steve said, in a way he hoped sounded like he was joking. “We’ll see you in the morning.” 

“Goodnight, “Bucky said and nodded to his friends and disappeared into the room. 

“What’s with him?” Sam asked.

“He wants this thing with Visnovsky to be real,” Steve said. 

“We all do,” Sam said. “For his sake, I hope it is, and I hope we find out who and what's behind this, but I don’t want to get caught up in somebody else’s war. See you in the morning.” Steve waited a few minutes until his friends were out of sight before entering the room. 

Bucky was sitting on the edge of the bed, holding his head in his hands. Steve sat down beside him and tentatively reached out to touch him. His hand had no sooner found a place on his shoulder when he jumped up. 

“Please don’t tell me to relax,” he said. “I can’t.”

“Bucky, you can’t keep on like this,” Steve said. “Slow down. Look, I know what this means to you..”

“No, you don’t. You can’t know what it’s like to carry the weight of fifty years of death and destruction on your shoulders, to think of it as a huge black hole in your life, something you can never change, never make any better, and suddenly to find out that maybe, in the middle of all that, something good happened. I prevented pain instead of causing it.”

“You hardly ever talk about it,” Steve said. “That time in your life, I mean.”

“Of course I don’t. Who wants to hear it?”

“You could talk to me about it…”

“That would be ideal, wouldn’t it? But we don’t talk.”

“What do you mean? We talk all the time…”

“Oh, we talk about what’s going on in the village, the last mission, but not about anything that matters. We’re such… guys. How long did it take you to tell me about your other life? About what happened with you and Tony? Would you have told me that you want to move back here?” He asked. “I had to drag it out of you…”

“Ok, I admit, some areas of our life could use a little work, but I’m here now if you want to talk about it, I’m here.” He held up his right hand. The vibranium in the ring sparkled in the light. “Qabane.”

Bucky allowed himself a weak smile. “Qabane,” he repeated. He sat back down beside him and allowed Steve to put his arm around his shoulder and even run his fingers through his hair. 

“Why don’t you go take a hot shower? Steve asked. “Should help.” Bucky nodded and for once did as he was told. 

Later, he joined Steve in bed but stayed on his side. Even though it was dark, Steve knew he was staring into the dark toward the ceiling. 

“Just last night we were celebrating our anniversary,” Steve said. Funny how things can change in a day.” He reached out to touch him, running his hand up and down his arm. 

“I’m sorry for acting like a brat,” Bucky said. “This doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It just means… I’ve got things going on inside my head, and I’m not sure I know how to deal with them.”

“Good thing is, you don’t have to deal with them. It’s ok to just… feel things.”

“Where did you learn that?”

“Where else? From Sam.”

“So now you’re in touch with your feelings?” Bucky asked. He adjusted his position to face him. 

“Just with you. To everyone else, I’m still the stoic suck it up and deal with it, Captain America. Speaking of which, I should get my shield. Don’t know if I’ll need it, but you never know.”

Bucky said nothing but moved over closer to him and embraced him. They did nothing else, remaining in that position for a long time until Steve fell asleep. 

He woke up later, sensing something was wrong. His hand went to the other side of the bed and felt nothing. He turned on the light and noticed the shorts and the black tank top Bucky normally slept in lying on the bed. He had changed his clothes. Steve sat up in bed so he could survey the whole room. A familiar panic rose up inside his chest. He was alone.


	9. Chapter 9

His handlers kept Bucky up to date about the massive changes in technology over the years, but he usually left it for other people to deal with but things stuck in his mind even if he only saw it once. Mr. Stark, not Tony, had shown him the ropes on how to access the system if needed and now he was acting on that memory. That seemed like a lifetime ago, but in reality, it was only two years.

Security cameras stationed overhead revealed images of the empty compound but those weren’t his focus. The perimeter security guards were in place outside, alert but untroubled. He pulled up to a station and gave it several commands and punched in a few numbers. Scans identified his eyes, his fingerprint, his voice, everything about him, even including the moniker ‘The White Wolf’ in his bio. Citizen of the United States and Wakanda. His marital status startled him, flashing up as single but added “Life Partner Steve Rogers’. _Who added that?_ Not that he minded, but it was the first time he had seen it written down. He kept it on the screen, staring at it for a few minutes before moving on.

He started with the files from his phone Natasha had uploaded to the system. He read them twice, once in the original language and then the translations. The pictures, the eyewitness reports, stories of people being carted away from their homes at night, people shot, people, hiding in the woods where they nearly starved to death, their friends losing their jobs, businesses, and homes… and then the news got out of what was happening, and the world intervened. 

A time of turmoil followed for a few years, but like a bright and shining light, Vilnosky appeared on the political horizon. His speeches were not dramatic and full of fury, but calm and reassuring that the country would rise from the ashes and start over. He scrolled through files of the supposed secret meetings revealing his true agenda. He would not be so overt with his purges, he would do it little by little, region by region, emptying the country of undesirable elements under the guise of outdated laws. People would quietly disappear. His ideas were the same as his predecessors, who tried to ‘cleanse’ the country, he would just be 'smarter' about it.

Before that happened someone shot him dead on a street of their capital city. Bucky remembered it. He didn’t know his name, he never learned their names. They told him his mission and his target. It was after a political fundraising event. Vilnosky walked into the street, waving to the cheering crowd, and greeted by a young woman in a bright red dress. His signal. Bucky had knocked out the guard on the top of the building, someone he hadn’t thought about since it happened and thinking about it now, he was glad he didn’t kill him. There were so many of them, collateral damage, witnesses, and passers-by that he had lost count. The woman brandished a gun, and at that exact moment, Bucky shot him. He didn’t stay to see if his bullet had hit him; he collected his gear going the way he had come, down the elevator shaft. The crowd would be in shock for a few minutes, unable to believe what they had seen, chase after the woman, she would throw down her gun and disappear into the crowd, and they would discover too late that her pistol was not what killed the man. By that time, Bucky was long gone. 

He scrolled through the footage of Luka, zooming in and looking for any kind of tell that the young man was lying. Everything about him sent the message that he was a young man looking for his family and somehow got caught up in a political plot and that he was afraid. A noise caused him to turn around, and he prepared an excuse for anyone who came through the door. It was Steve, and he didn’t appear to be too happy.

“Did I wake you when I left?” Bucky asked. 

“I woke up, and you were gone,” he replied, holding onto the still-open door. “Didn’t take a genius to figure out where you were and what you were doing. Do me a favor, never do that again!”

Bucky mentally slapped himself. He had been so intent on this that he forgot about Steve’s recent bout of separation anxiety.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “It wasn’t on purpose, I was just so focused on this mission…”

“It's not a mission yet Bucky. We’re still in the fact-finding stage to determine if there will even be a mission. You understand?”

Bucky bit his tongue to hold back a retort. Like it or not, Steve was still his boss in the field. “Yes, Captain,” he said.

“Just leave a damn note or something next time,” he said, visibly relaxing. “Did you find anything new?”

“Not really, except now you’re officially my Life Partner.” He turned back to the files.

“I know. That was me,” Steve said. "They asked, I answered."

“No one asked me,” Bucky said, wondering why he was feeling defensive.

“They knew better than to ask you,” Steve said. “Everyone knows you’re kind of… shy about that.”

“For the last time, I am not shy!” Bucky said, turning back to face him. Steve said nothing but smiled at him. He had already forgiven Bucky for his nocturnal wandering. He turned to close the door behind him but the slight sound of a footstep from somewhere deep in the compound's array of hallways put them both on alert.

“Someone is up,” Steve said, his voice low. “And trying to keep quiet. Let’s have a look.” They turned toward the array of security cameras. The halls were empty. Another footstep. Bucky shut down the files, aware the system would hide them away, somewhere in the vast depths of Tony’s security system.

“Not anywhere near here,” Steve whispered. “Where is Luka staying?”

“In the guest quarters, I assume. Why aren’t we seeing anything?” Bucky asked, matching his low tone and glancing back up at the security monitors. “Think someone tampered with them?”

“Impossible to tell. Whoever that is, probably doesn’t know we’re up, but unluckily for them, we’re the only ones who can hear them. Shall we take a walk?”

Another few steps, this time a little closer.

“Turn out the lights,” Steve said. Bucky pushed a button that sent the command, and the lights dimmed. He joined Steve by the door. The only lights in the hallway were the small sensors that ran along the bottom portion of the walls. The footsteps started to fade away.

“They’ve turned down a side hall,” Steve said. “They’re not coming here, but to be safe, change the passcode on the door here.” He stepped out into the hall and Bucky joined him, shutting the door slowly behind him, then entered the code on the keypad that sent a signal somewhere for the room to lock itself against any intruder. More steps. Whoever it was, was getting a little bolder.

Bucky’s eyes focused in the dim light. Steve mouthed the words, “Let’s go” and pointed outward.

Together they glided down the hall, stopping from time to time to listen, and follow the sounds. Turning down the side corridor, Bucky turned to look behind them. He couldn’t see anyone, but he couldn’t shake the impression that they weren’t alone. They were moving away from the team’s quarters and toward the guest rooms.

“Wonder if it’s him, wandering around?” Bucky whispered. 

“Maybe,” Steve said. The intruder ceased it to be quiet, probably assuming since he or she was beyond the team’s living quarters, there was no one to hear. Steve and Bucky remained in stealth mode, going around the corner to see a dark figure in front of them. Steve held up his hand, a signal for him to stop. The person was wearing a dark jacket with a hood, and from the height and build was probably a man. He stopped at a door and gave three knocks. No one opened the door, and the person knocked again. 

“Come on,” the person said, in a normal speaking voice. Bucky recognized it. “I know you’re in there, we might as well get this over with.” The door opened and even though the lights were low, they could see Luka. 

“Why are you here? I did everything you asked!” Luka said.

“Doesn’t matter. We have to talk,” the man said.

“I think we all have to talk,” Steve said, walking forward. The intruder turned around startled, but a smile crossed his face, an attempt to cover his surprise. 

"Well, well, if it isn’t Captain America and his best… _friend_ Bucky Barnes,” the man said. Bucky didn’t like the emphasis he put on the word friend but he shook it off. The intruder pulled back his hood to reveal a familiar face.

“What are you doing here, Fury?” Bucky asked, knowing that Steve would have no idea how to react to the man. 

“Nothing to do with the team unless you insist on getting involved with this,” Fury said.

“You already know the passcodes and the layout of the place," Bucky said. “All Luka needed to do was open the door. Tamper with the security cameras as well, use some fake footage?”

“You don’t understand,” Luka began. “I had no choice…”

“I think we understand enough to know you’re being used, by both sides,” Bucky said. “Who got to you first?”

“I don’t have time for this!” Fury barked. “That region of the world has finally reached a point of stability and this will undo everything!”

“By putting tyrants in charge?” Bucky asked.

“There is no proof of that!” Fury started to back away.

“Do you have proof that Luka’s other friends are their political enemies?” Bucky took a step toward him.

“They are holding my brother,” Luka said. “My adopted brother, but still my brother.” He disappeared back into the room and returned with his phone. Tapping it a few times, he showed it to them a video. A young man, standing in the middle of an apartment, his hands and he looked angry. He was younger than Luka. The timestamp was three days ago. At least he didn’t look frightened. “They told me to do as they said… and then Mr. Fury came to me.”

“I know where they’re holding his brother. He’s ok, so I asked him to do a little double agent work for me,” Fury said. 

“So instead of using your resources to free his brother, you do this?” Bucky said. He started to bang his fist into the wall but Steve’s firm grip on his arm stopped him.

“You’re being uncharacteristically quiet about all this,” Fury said, taking a step toward Steve. “Domestic life finally tame you?” 

Steve’s jaws visibly clenched. “Why bring Bucky into all this?”

“Isn’t it obvious? They knew his connections to the area, and they tried to manipulate him so he would bring the team in. I like the new name. Avengers. Cute. With you on their side, of course, the world would think they were the good guys, but they’re not.”

“Why didn’t you come to us first?” Steve asked.

“In the beginning, this had nothing to do with you. All we want is a smooth transition of power, then this bunch of radicals got involved…”

“Who is ‘we’?” Bucky asked, knowing he wouldn’t get a full answer.

“Just a group of people trying to maintain stability in the world. I mean, after recent events the world could use a little stability. I know why you’re interested.” He directed his attention toward Bucky. “You killed Vilnosky and that part of it, might be true. Ancient history.” He took a few steps towards them. “They told me some people blinked out and came right back. That happen to any of you?”

“To some of us," Steve said. He turned his attention to Luka. ‘You could have told us about your brother.”

“I had to wait and talk to Mr. Fury. He doesn’t like it when we change his plans.”

“If you give us your phone, we might get a fix on his location. Tony’s tech can figure out all kinds of things…” Steve said.

“Tony? That’s right since you all took down the Consortiums, things got a little more informal around here,” Fury said.” But I can’t let that happen.” He reached out to grab the phone away from Luka. Bucky couldn't believe he would attempt such a stupid gesture with the two of them right there. Steve and Bucky both posed to react but in a split second before either of them moved, a string of web shot down from above, wrapping around his hands. 

“Damn it! P…” Fury began but another dose of webbing wrapped around his head, forcing his mouth closed and silencing him. Another shot around his feet. A barely seen figure on the ceiling scrambled away from him and disappeared around a corner.

“I thought someone was following us,” Bucky said. 

Luka stood open-mouthed at the ceiling. “Was that Spider-Man?” He asked. “Does he live here?”

“Yes, it was, and no, but he comes around sometimes,” Steve said, doing his part to protect Peter. The situation was almost comical, but with Fury silenced and incapacitated, he was back in leader mode. “First thing, we call security and have him taken to a holding area. You didn’t disable our emergency systems did you?” 

Luka shook his head. Bucky walked over to the glass case, smashed it and triggered the alarm that would alert the guards to come to this location. 

“We need you to get changed and fix whatever you did to our systems, and that’s all,” Bucky said. “No other funny business.” 

They wouldn’t talk about anything else in front of Fury, who was busy fighting the webbing. Bucky knew he was doing his best to curse, but the webbing restrained him.

“Shouldn’t we do something about him first?” Luka asked.

“No,” Bucky replied. “He’s not going anywhere.”


	10. Chapter 10

“So _now_ are we officially involved?” Bucky asked Steve over the breakfast table. They spent the rest of the night in a silent, restless state, both of them tossing and turning.

The news of Fury’s break-in was all over the compound. He was now resting in a secured room with all the needed amenities. Luka had hacked the system using codes supplied by Fury. 

“Once we find out where Luka’s brother is, we can notify the local authorities,” Steve said. “And unless they ask for our help, we stay out of it.” His voice came across a little too strong. Bucky felt like a schoolboy being scolded by a teacher.

“And what if they can’t find out where he is?” Bucky persisted. 

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Steve said. “Let’s wait until they’re finished analyzing the data from Luka’s phone.”

Bucky sat his coffee cup down so hard the people at the next table stopped their conversation to stare at him.

"Bucky, I know you don’t want to hear this, but so far we have nothing on these people. No evidence they’re part of any kind of evil network. We’ve dug and dug, and there’s nothing there. All we have is accusations."

“Didn’t you tell me that back in your world, the bad guys infiltrated the organization you worked for, for years?” Bucky asked. He remembered how he felt when Steve first told him about the story. The whole thing seemed fantastic.

Steve pushed his seat back from the table and let out a sigh. “Of course I remember. So does Natasha. Those were a couple of dark days for us.” His eyes stared at the opposite wall for a long moment, staying silent long enough for Bucky to regret his words. He remembered the rest of the story of his meeting Sam, the other Sam, and finding and losing his Bucky again.

“Sorry, shouldn’t have brought that up,” he said, playing with his cup, shifting it back and forth between both hands. 

Steve’s eyes shot back into focus and he gave Bucky a small smile. “That’s why we haven’t given up yet. We know people can go deep and hide their footprints. I just want you to prepare yourself for the possibility that this might be an elaborate set up just to get us involved for political reasons. The thing about Vilnosky still might be true.” He scooted his chair back up to the table and lowered his voice. “And for once, it wasn’t about Bucky, but the Nick Fury I knew. They’re a lot alike. I guess I just want assurance that this guy is on the side of the angels.”

"I think he is,” Bucky answered, “Mostly good, I mean, but his priorities are all over the place, and no one knows his true agenda but they have fooled him before."

“Kind of like the Steve Rogers that was,” Steve said. “I bet they got along great.” He didn’t hide the sarcasm. 

“They did, and they didn’t. They were both no-nonsense don’t suffer fools people but there were times they butted heads, but nothing compared to Nick’s break up with Tony. Speaking of which, what was Parker doing here last night? Didn’t someone take him home?”

"Tony usually sees to that," Steve admitted. "So of course, since we focused on everything else, he got lost in the shuffle. Peter didn't say anything, so he just slipped into the background. Seems his danger senses were working overtime last night, that's why he was out prowling the halls. At first, he thought what he sensed was you, and he was about to go back to bed when we heard Fury wandering around and followed us."

At that moment, Natasha, entered the room, going straight to them and taking a seat at their table. 

“Fury was the one who was in the apartment. We got his DNA. Very sloppy. He’s refusing to say how he knew you were there. He packed your suitcases just to throw you off your game. Hoping it would spook you off.”

“His standard method of operation,” Bucky said. He passed his cup back and forth between his hands, the liquid sloshing out. 

“What’s he like?” Steve asked.

“Like everybody else,” Natasha replied. “The same, but different. Abrupt, secretive, but at least I got the impression our guy was on our side. This guy seems like he’s…”

“On his own side,” Bucky said. “But enough of him. What else you got?” 

“They narrowed down Luka’s brother’s location. His name is Milac. The AI concluded, based on ambient noises, the landscape outside the window, and by the floor plan and furniture and general fixtures in the room, that he’s in North America. They made the mistake of allowing one shot of an electrical plug. There was the weather, it was raining pretty heavily, which ruled out Canada, but matched reports of somewhere just south of us. Southern New York State or it could be Pennsylvania. That’s the only location that’s had a heavy weather event…”

“More sloppiness,’ Steve said. “But alert the authorities in all locations in the area, give them a description, see if they come up with anything.” 

“Southern New York State?” Bucky mused, his memories started to reactivate. “Let me see that video.” 

Natasha handed it to him and he replayed it. Before he had been looking at the young man, but now, he focused on the environment. The windows, the walls, the fixtures, the heavy rain pounding on the window, the window itself. A buried image reset hard in his brain. It was something he wasn’t expecting to see again, but there it was. 

“I know that place,” he said. 

“How is that possible?” Natasha asked. She and Steve exchanged worried glances. 

“I recognize it. It was a safe house, from back when I was… the Asset.”

“Are you positive?” Steve asked.

Bucky replayed the video and stopped it, then enhanced it to zoom in on a crack in the wall. “Seel that? I put it there. If I start now, I can be there in about an hour…”

“You are not going,” Steve said firmly. “Might be a trap. We alert the local authorities and let them handle it.”

“Yes, Captain,” Bucky said. He should have regretted his response but didn’t. He raised his head to stare into Steve’s eyes. A long moment passed between them.

Natasha cleared her throat. She'd been dispelling a lot of tension over the past few days. “How about we compromise and send Clint? Just tell me where it is.”

Bucky thought about it for a moment, then looked to Steve who nodded his assent. If he couldn't go himself, Clint was an agreeable substitute. “It’s a nondescript house in Albany. In a residential area, I don’t know the exact address because we always went there at night, but I can tell you exactly how many exits off the freeway, and the directions through the neighborhood from memory.”

“That’s enough to get us in the general area. We can figure out the rest,” Natasha said.

Bucky gave her the information, then sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. For the first time in a long time, he missed his Steve. He could be abrupt and harsh but no way would he sit back and let others take over in a situation like this. Once again, Natasha and Steve exchanged glances. Bucky could imagine what they were thinking. _They think I’m losing it. They might be right._

“In other news, Thula has agreed to our little set up at the U.N. She wanted to visit it anyway, and the conference is something she’s interested in. Wakanda can help. We kitted up the translation headphones. If nothing else, it will give us a first-hand look at these people without resorting to stalking.”

“Will that be enough for you, Buck?” Steve asked. “For now, at least?”

Bucky nodded without speaking. He picked up the phone again and stared at the image of the room. He remembered the place well, he’d stayed there twice. He never thought about Hammertech's safe houses after he walked away. They were all over the world, but someone had found one and knew what they had used it for. Natasha interrupted his thoughts.

“We found Peter in Luka’s room. They’ve hit it off, spent most of the night talking. We have to debrief him before we send him home… see if the guy accidentally revealed something.”

“Let us know if he found out anything interesting,” Steve said. She took the phone back from Bucky and left the room. Steve stared after her for a few moments. “She’s enjoying herself. This is her element.”

“I’m glad somebody’s able to keep busy,” Bucky said. “I envy her.”

“You didn’t want to take this trip, did you?” Steve asked. The abrupt honesty of his question surprised Bucky. 

“It’s not that I didn’t want to come,” he said. “But I forgot about it until Thula reminded me.”

“Why don’t we go back?” Steve asked. “There’s not a lot we can do here, its obvious someone somewhere is trying to drag us into this, and the best thing we can do is stay out of it.”

Bucky hesitated. It was tempting. 

“T’Challa has money and resources to throw around. If there’s any truth to the Vilnosky rumor, he’ll find out. He’ll do anything for you.” Steve reached out and laid his hand on Bucky’s real hand. He noted they were both wearing their rings. For a moment the emotion took over, flying back to Wakanda and leaving all this behind sounded wonderful, but something held him back.

“I want to wait until after Sam and Thula complete their mission. See if there’s anything there we can use,” he said.

“Okay. That we can do. The meeting is this afternoon. Until then, what do you want to do? This is a vacation. Want to go back to the city? We can-”

“Visit some Art Galleries,” Bucky said. 

“Like the one closest to the U.N.?” Steve asked. 

“I think you'd enjoy it. It's something you want to do, and I don’t mind tagging along, ok? But do me a favor,” he leaned forward so he could whisper. “Don’t tell anyone we’re going, except Natasha. I’m thinking the walls have ears.” 

"Here? This is one of the most secure places in the country. Luka hacking the system was a fluke, and even then he had help. He wouldn’t have gotten in without the codes. Since we came here, we just forgot Fury was still out there with all this information. I wonder who else knows?"

“Someone hacked the system before you came here…” Bucky said. He didn’t like to think about it. “When I lost my first arm. We never found out who did it. I headed to Wakanda as soon as my shoulder healed, and then the thing with Thanos happened, and we have your Tony now, so I guess any investigation got lost in the chaos.”

“When he gets back, we’ll ask him to look into it,” Steve said. “But that was over a year ago. Are you saying the two incidents are linked?”

“All I know is that was the last time it happened,” Bucky replied. “We always assumed it was the Hammertech people, but maybe it wasn’t…”

“Let’s leave all that here, it’ll be here when we get back,” Steve said. “Let’s go back into town. No driver… we’ll just drive ourselves. Tony has designated parking places all over the city…”

“And bolt holes and helicopters. I wouldn’t mind knowing what else he has out there… but ask Natasha to find out. I don’t want anyone else to know…”

“Anyone ever tell you you’re getting a little paranoid?” Steve asked.

“I think you just did.”

“Bucky…”

A door opened and in walked Clint who never held back with his emotions when anything happened, good or bad. Now he was in a triumphant mode. 

“Found Mara back at the apartment building. On a hunch, I went exploring that maintenance hallway, and she just showed up but waited until the investigators left. She didn’t offer any resistance and didn’t seem to upset I was there waiting for her, asked about the kid and seemed relieved when I told her he was here. Told me the same thing he did, and she has no idea about what happened to Deja”

“So now we have two of them here,” Steve mused. “Either someone is after them, and their story is true, or they are some kind of pipeline to us. It's possible Deja might have been a turncoat or a double agent…”

“Now who's being paranoid?” Bucky asked, not expecting an answer. He could see Steve's jaws visibly clench for half a second.

“Well, they have her locked up in one of the guest quarters,” Clint said, oblivious to their tension.” They’re looking after her but she can’t communicate with anyone. I heard Fury is back, a good thing Tony’s not here, but then, that was Mr. Stark he butted heads with. Damn it, I just realized, he doesn’t know a thing about how you changed the Universe."

"No, he doesn’t and he's not going to find out for a while. We've got something else we'd like you to do, but I don't think we should tell Fury anything until we're all together."

“Point taken. He won’t hear about it from me! If you’ll excuse me, I’m hungry and need a shower. Reconnaissance is hard! Oh, and speaking of the rest of the team, I just heard, if all goes well, Tony and the others should be back tomorrow!” He didn’t wait for their reactions but left the room, his boots treading heavily on the tiled floor. 

"We’ll sort this out, I promise,” Steve said. Bucky felt gentle pressure as his hand squeezed his. He stared down at the imprint of the White Wolf on the ring he had given him.

“Let’s go to town,” Bucky said. “I don’t want to be here anymore.”


	11. Chapter 11

This International Gallery didn’t exist back in his old world. The palace-like building had no permanent collection but hosted revolving exhibits loaned from other countries. It was part of a network of museums located around the world. Steve thought he was immune to the lavish displays of wealth after living in Wakanda, but the marble rooms and distinct chandeliers informed him that he was wrong. The one floating above them now looked like little more than a tangled mess of glowing wires and he wasn’t sure if it generated real light but it was unusual to look at. All the works were familiar with small different details, a windmill or a flower that didn’t exist in the paintings he remembered. Brushstrokes, the mediums, the consistency of the paint, all very close but different enough to find fascinating.

Bucky followed along with him, saying nothing as he examined the paintings and now he stood in front of a long open window at the end of the galley. Below the noise and activity of New York continued. The United Nations stood a short distance away.

“They’ll be fine,” Steve said as he moved closer to the sculpture he was examining. “Sam’s an old pro at this.”

“I know, I also know those meetings can run long.”

Steve’s moved over to examine a Van Gogh. Bucky gave up on his vigil and returned to join him. 

“I don’t remember this one,” Steve said, as he scrutinized it. 

“You memorized every painting this guy ever did?” Bucky asked. 

“I think I would remember this,” Steve said. “I don’t think he ever painted a bowl full of just roses. Roses and other flowers, yes, but not like this and I would remember that cat in the window.”

“That’s a cat? With all those wavy lines, how could you tell? I never understood why people decided this guy was so great. The colors were weird…”

“There was a reason for that,” Steve said as he bent down to look at the date. “1895. That’s not right. Must be a typo. Can’t be a forgery.”

“Why isn’t it right?”

“Van Gogh died in 1890. Killed himself.”

“In your world,” Bucky said, pointing to a small plaque detailing his life. “Here he lived until 1900. Died of disease…”

“Ten more years of paintings!” Steve said, not able to contain his excitement. “Ten more years of Van Gogh! Damn, I have to see them all. Do you know what this means?”

“It means you’re about to geek out in front of everyone. Calm down!”

“Sorry, but this is amazing. I need to find out what else he did!”

“Easy enough to find out. Hell, Tony might own a couple. He may not even know he owns them… but… you like this?” Bucky asked.

“Yes, I’ve always liked them.” For a moment the picture transferred back to his old world. If there had been no war, no serum, he would have continued at art school and done… who knows what he might have accomplished but that part of him came to life again. A desire rose inside him, a need to visit all the galleries and in the entire world. He would discover it all over again, for the first time.

A warning alarm sounded, pushing the thoughts away. Bucky left his side to return to the window. After a second's hesitation, Steve joined him, dreading what he might see. Several emergency vehicles were attempting to push their way through traffic, confirming his worst fears. Lights were flashing and one by one, they stopped in the area around the UN.

“Damn,” Bucky said, and started to rush away but Steve caught his arm and stopped him. 

“We can’t get in their way until we know more of what's going on, and us being seen on the streets right at this moment might not be the wisest thing,” he said, keeping his lips close to Bucky’s ear, causing him to stop in his tracks.

"We can’t stay here. They might be in danger!" Bucky exclaimed but he kept his voice low. His eyes shifted back and forth. Steve knew he was searching his memories. After a moment, he focused in on something. " I have an idea. Follow me.” 

The rest of the patrons gathered around the windows, their focus zeroed in on the activity outside so the two men slipped to the back of the growing crowds, unnoticed.

Bucky reverted to stealth mode, keeping close to the walls, keeping his head turned away, the bill of his cap lowered. Steve did the same. They were hiding from the security cameras. They half-ran, half jumped down several flights of stairs, meeting no one while avoiding the elevators. Soon they came to a door marked Admittance Only. Bucky forced it open. Inside, instead of a room, was a long corridor.

“What is this?” Steve asked as they entered, closing the door behind them.

“A passageway connecting all the important buildings. The Hammertech Consortium used to own a lot of these buildings before we took them down and the Art Commission took it over.”

“So that’s why you suggested we come here!” Steve said.

“I took a chance,” Bucky said. “I’m sorry my hunches were right. Let’s go. We can run. There’s no one to hear us.” The two let loose down the long hallway, their feet barely hitting the tiled hallway as they propelled themselves forward. They passed doors and side hallways until Bucky stopped in front of another unmarked door. Once again, he forced it open. Another hallway.

“We’re underneath the UN," He said. “This might involve traveling by a more creative route.”

“Lead the way,” Steve said, following Bucky down the hallway until they stopped by what looked like an elevator.

“This is not, nor has it ever been an elevator,” Bucky said, squeezing his metal hand in between the doors and prying it open. “They put it here for this very purpose.”

“And no one else has found it?” Steve asked.

“Apparently not. It’s only been a year since you took the bad guys out,” Bucky said. "Half of everyone was dazed and confused for a while after you brought them here, and then they had to get readjusted to their new lives, and it's a big building. Probably haven’t had the time to check it out.”

“Lucky for us,” Steve said, looking up to observe a winding stair that was almost steep enough to be a ladder. Bucky began the climb, with Steve following hard after. 

“We don’t have to go all the way to the top. The room we’re looking for should be just about here…” once more in front of a set of doors, and once again he forced them open into a long empty corridor. “Now we’ll go into a modified crawl space that will give us a bird view of the conference room. Don’t worry, we don’t have to crawl… much.”

He knelt and opened a large vent. Steve shuddered for a moment, remembering what happened the last time he had to crawl into a space like this, but he shook it off. They had to get to Sam and Thula. Bucky was right, they could get through in a hunched over position, half crawling, with interment spaces where they could stand.

They came at last to a long room with small windows on one side. “That is the conference room down there,” Bucky said. If things were normal, it would give a bird's-eye view of the room but now they saw nothing.

“It’s dark,” Steve said. “A blackout. Just like what happened at the apartment. What is that?”

Down below they could make out the beams of a flashlight. Dim shadowy outlines revealed someone down there walking through the room, highlighting rows of people laying on the floor in all sorts of positions. They all appeared to be out cold. 

“There seem to be two of them. Rescue workers?” Steve asked. Just then the lights played over a familiar face. Thula, lying down in the space between the seats, and Sam beside her. She was still wearing translation headphones. 

“Gas?” Bucky asked. Just then they noticed her twitch. 

“It looks like it, she’s breathing!” he said. “That’s a good sign. We’ve got to get them out of there and get that recording! She might have seen something…”

“And its probably still on,” Bucky said. “And I don’t think those are rescue workers. They aren’t checking out the people on the floor.” The lights went over their friends without stopping and settled on the people on the platform and began to bob in that direction. “They didn't take her headphones, that's another good sign, the politicians seem to be their target. Maybe we should leave them alone…”

“Bucky, this could be a huge elaborate setup. Those people might be innocent. I don’t know about you, but…”

Bucky hesitated and for a moment Steve thought he would let him go ahead on his own, but nodded. “Take a deep breath and follow me.”

Steve followed his example, standing back as Bucky broke through a window and jumped to the floor. Steve followed. The sound of breaking glass alerted the intruders and a shot of something rang out, but they dodged it. Working as one they could see in the dark well enough to knock both out, then stepped over the bodies to get to their friends, Steve picking up Sam by way of a fireman’s carry and Bucky scooped up the petite Thula like a bride. He kicked down a side door, and without stopping walked down the hall to another door which he opened the same violent way. They carefully set them up against the wall and knelt beside them so they could check their pulse. Both were slow but steady. 

“I think they’ll be all right,” Steve said happy to breathe again. He removed the small translation headsets from both of them and placed them in his jacket pocket and zipped it. “You stay with them, I’m going to go back and make sure the emergency personnel can get in, and let in some fresh air, maybe dissipate the gas.”

It took less than five minutes. He checked on some of the people, most appeared, like Thula and Sam to be in deep sleep. The two intruders were wearing special hazmat like suits. He left them alone, but he opened the main door, allowing easy access to the first responders and left again, shutting the door they had used as an escape and returned to Bucky and the others. Sam was just starting to stir. 

“What the hell?” He asked. “Thula?”

“She’s here, she’s safe. Someone flooded the room with gas. Put you to sleep, but we got you out,” Bucky said.

“What the hell?” He asked again as if he hadn’t heard him, his eyes opened widening as he became more alert. 

“We don’t think you were the targets, but don’t worry about that, they’re out of the picture. We need to get you two to a doctor…” Bucky said.

“It’s too far back to the compound, and I don’t know if they should go to a hospital. We don’t know who’s out there, they might not want witnesses…” Steve added.

“They didn’t seem to pay much attention to the two of them…” Bucky said.

“They? Who are they?” Sam said. He sat up straighter. Beside him, Thula stirred and opened one eye.

“What happened?” she asked.

“You and Sam got caught up in an attempted kidnapping… or assassination, but you’re safe now,” Steve said. “We need to have you two checked out because we don’t know what they used.”

“If they can walk, we can get to the Wakandan Embassy from here, “Bucky said. “They’ll take care of them. It’s not far away.”

Sam jumped to his feet, but staggered, his hand went out to the wall to steady himself. Steve let his friend lean on him. Bucky did the same with Thula, after helping her to her feet. “How did you know how to get to the Embassy from here?” he asked.

“This is how I got there the first time after I lost my arm after the explosion in the compound,” Bucky said. “When I asked for asylum.”

“So that’s how you did it! We had all the exits covered, all the flights, I thought you’d gone through the sewers…” Sam said. 

Steve experienced a surreal moment as he listened to his two best friends describe the time before he came to this place when they were with the other Steve. Sam’s drunken determination to wake up from his drugged state distracted him.

“Easy,” he said, “You might just have to let this stuff work its way out of your system.”

“It’s not far,” Bucky said. 

“The headphones!” Thula said. 

“We’ve got them. Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry this happened. You were just supposed to gather some information for us…” Steve said.

“It’s all right,’ she said, her speech slurred. “I’ve faced danger before, just not from humans.”

“If you feel up to it, let’s go. The authorities will know someone busted in there and start looking. They’re not stupid, it won’t take them long to discover this honeycomb of hallways down here.” Steve pulled Sam’s arm around his shoulders. Bucky did the same to support Thula. Together they made their way down the long, long hall. Steve wondered how Bucky knew where he was going. Nothing was marking this corridor as different from any other, no marks on the wall, no signage, nothing but he walked with a purpose, and without stopping. Finally, they came to a set of long double doors.

“This wasn’t always the Embassy,” Bucky said. “I told the Wakandans about this when they bought it, and I was the first to use it. I might be the only person to use it!” He knocked on the door and after a few moments, it opened, revealing an astonished Wakandan guard.

“White Wolf!” He exclaimed, opening the door wider so Bucky and his entourage could enter. The room was an average-sized, with the look of a private office. Steve and Bucky led their charges to a sofa by the side of the door. Thula collapsed while Sam leaned forward, holding onto his head. 

“It hurts,’ he mumbled.

“This is Thula Behan, she is a citizen of Wakanda,” Bucky began. 

‘Yes, we knew she was here. And your friend, Sam Wilson. What has happened? Were they at the U.N.? We are on alert…”

“Yes, they were, and someone knocked them out by an unknown substance. Could you please take care of them and see to it they get to the Avengers Compound safely. We need to get back, see if we can help.”

“And this,” Steve said, handing him the headphones, “Goes with them. It's very important. If possible, give them directly to Agent Romanoff and no one else. Do you understand?”

“Yes. I’ll call our medical team right away. Be careful!” he called after them as they exited. Steve looked back to see him kneel beside their friends and speak into the air. Communication would be instantaneous. Their friends and the instruments were in safe hands. 

“I thought this would be an easy first and only mission for Thula,’ he muttered as he followed Bucky back down the endless corridor.

“Is anything safe or easy around us?” Bucky asked as he took off running and in no time at all they arrived back at the door at their starting point. Sounds came from the other side and both men exchanged glances.

“I guess the First responders made it in there,” Steve said. “They’ve probably discovered the broken glass. I don’t care for myself, but do you want that kind of attention brought to yourself, at the moment? It's up to you.”

Bucky pressed his ear against the door and listened. After a moment he nodded. “I can hear them. They’re taking everyone out. Damn it, I want to know who the intruders were…”

“We’ll find out on the news. This had nothing to do with Thula and Sam, they didn’t know they were in there, and there’s no way they can connect this back to us. Let’s keep it that way, for now. Let’s go back into the Art Gallery and work our way back to the Compound, and see what Thula recorded for us,” Steve said. “I don’t like leaving the scene, but these are unusual circumstances and things are under control.”

After a long moment, Bucky nodded. “You’re probably right. Let’s go back.”

They traveled back through the circuitous route to the museum which they discovered was on temporary lockdown, but they merged back into the crowds without drawing attention to themselves.

“I hate to state the obvious, but we need to get out of here,” Steve said. He looked out the window, noting the evening shadows were playing between the canyons formed by tall buildings. “You have any knowledge of another exit?”

“Sure. Take off the hat and sunglasses and tell everyone you’re Captain America and you’re needed out there,” Bucky said. “They’ll let you out.”

“Something a little more discreet,” Steve said but just then a young man wearing a uniform entered the room. 

“The situation appears to be under control. You’re free to leave.” He said without ceremony. A murmur arose from the crowd as the patrons made their way out of the building. Steve and Bucky remained in their place against the wall, still doing their best to not draw attention to themselves.

“That takes care of that,” Steve said.

"Call the compound, tell them we’re ok, to expect a delivery from the Wakandan Embassy, and we’ll be back tomorrow,” Bucky said. “And let’s walk out on the street like regular people. Just keep your head down."

“And where are we regular people walking to?” Steve asked as they tagged along behind the rest of the crowd. Most of them walked down toward the UN to get as close as the authorities would let them. 

“Where we went yesterday morning. Brooklyn. I had plans, before Casimire and his bunch showed up.”

“What plans?” Steve asked, but Bucky said nothing, pulling the visor of his hat down over his eyes and sticking his left hand into his pocket. 

“You'll find out when we get there. I want to do this now because with all this going on, I don’t know when I’ll get the chance again,” Bucky said.


	12. Chapter 12

After arriving back in Brooklyn, Bucky led him down back streets and alleyways, places he had never visited in this life, but the deju vu impressions almost convinced him he had been here before. The buildings were in good condition, people of means lived here but the area was quiet. The streetlights glowed, casting shadows around them, and lights appeared in the windows above them. 

“Does any of this look familiar?” Bucky asked, their footsteps echoing through the long narrow brick lanes.

“Almost, but the buildings I remember weren’t so... clean.”

“I told you it’s been gentrified.”

“This is where you grew up?” Steve asked.

Bucky nodded, stopping short in front of a set of stairs. That explained that. Their memories overlapped.

“This looks familiar,” Steve said. “We came the back way, didn’t we, away from the main street?”

“Less chance of running into tourists. They’re not supposed to be back here, but sometimes kids come snooping around in the evening. You want to see?”

“We can just go in?”

Bucky said nothing, smiled at him and mounted the steps. Steve followed him and the sense that he had been here before became stronger. He had stood in a place very much like this, in a time long lost to eternity. 

Bucky produced a key. “Surprise!” He said, opening the door.

Steve hesitated before walking in and stepping back in time. This was his childhood. Some things were different, the color of the worn carpet, some knickknacks, and plants not in the places he remembered, but the layout, the atmosphere was the same. A picture of his parents on the wall, dressed in different clothes but still familiar. He lingered there in front of them for a long moment.

“You remember any of this?” Buckley asked.

“Yes. Everything. There are some differences, but this is amazing.”

“You know what happened to them?” He asked, nodding toward the pictures.

“Tony made us read up on everything, not long after we got here, but yeah, a similar story. Dad died when I was little, mom raised me.”

“She helped raise me too,” Bucky said. “Missed her a lot when she…” his words trailed off as they both lost themselves in memory. “Come on,” he said, breaking the silence. He led him down the small hallway to another room and turned on the light. “You first.”

The bedroom, just like the one where he spent so many long days of his sickly youth. There wasn’t much there, a dresser, makeshift wooden shelves, and two beds crammed together in a small space with drawings on the wall, one of a very young Bucky. Steve traced an outline of the picture with his finger.

“How- who did all this?” he asked.

“I did,” Bucky said.

Steve whirled around to face him. Buck smiled again, taking a seat on the bed next to the window. “I have my own money. Saving the life of the King of Wakanda has its benefits. It involved paying people to raid a bunch of thrift stores, but yeah, it was me.”

“And you spent real money on this?”

“Why not? I was lucky that after all these years, the city planners kept it here. They held onto hoping he would come back and do something with it, but Steve, my Steve wasn’t interested. It was too much of a reminder of what he used to be before the serum. I could have spent it on worse things. I might let the city have it, as a sort of little museum. Let people tour it and send the proceeds to a charity of your choice. Or we can just keep it for ourselves if you don’t want that apartment of Tony’s, or we can do both. It’s a quiet neighborhood, not like the old days, it was noisy back then, things were going on all the time… we can come in a back way, or we can come up the fire escape and through the window like I used to do. No one would know.”

Steve went back to examining the picture of the young Bucky “Mom worked nights a couple of times a month, and she didn’t want me to be alone because I was sick half the time…”

“And she agreed to let me stay over, but only if I made sure we both got to school the next day.”

“Yes,” Steve said, sitting down beside Bucky. “And we always did. That’s how it happened. I remember, staying up, waiting for you, and you coming here through the window…”

'And when you were too sick to go out, I’d tell you what was happening out there. And sometimes we snuck out…”

Steve laughed and then a solemn thought hit him. "Notice how it becomes us, and not them.”

“We can always pretend that those memories are our memories,” Bucky said. “But we shouldn't forget…”

“No. That needs to stay.”

“We can make new ones. I considered giving you your ring here.”

“That would have been nice, but I liked the way it happened..”

Bucky sighed, and rubbed his hand up and down his leg, reminding Steve of something his Bucky used to do, a long time ago, in a place just like this. “I even had a little speech planned out.”

“Let’s hear it.”

Bucky laughed, his face turning red. “No.. it’s too sappy…”

“You’re getting shy on me again…”

“For the last time…”

“Do I ask for much?”

“If I have to…” He took a moment to stare across the room before speaking again.“You know, me being the way I am, I never had that moment,” he said.

“What moment?”

"That moment that other guys have when they discover they like girls or guys. I didn’t want to sleep with them or sneak around to be with them, you know, that thing that I guess happens with other people has never happened to me, but I never noticed anything was different. How could I? I thought some people were good looking, but I never wanted to do anything with them. I never understood the drama about relationships or whatever, I just did not get it, but I never said anything because I didn’t know I was different, There was no ‘aha’ moment, but there was Steve, always him, and being with him was enough. I was damn lucky to have found him, to have found you when I did. I'd be a lonely guy, not understanding myself, not knowing what was wrong with me, I'd stumble around in relationships not understanding myself, but by you coming here, you saved me from all that."

“Bucky…” Steve began but Bucky held up his hand.

“I didn’t get the chance to tell him, but then you came here, and you found out, and you told me the truth about myself… and it all clicked because of you. you didn’t care.” Bucky took Steve’s face in his hands, and kissed him, more tenderly than he ever had before. It was long and satisfying. Bucky held onto his face after it was over.“That’s why I wanted to bring you here, and tell you how much I love you, and how much you mean to me, and how glad I am that you decided to make it real. I'm damn lucky, to have you, and I know it."

“That was beautiful,” Steve said, overwhelmed by his emotions.

“It’s not easy for me to say things like this, but being back here… it’s easier.”

“I know, I get it,” Steve said. “I understand." He pushed Bucky’s hair out of the way and kissed him hard and pushed him down on the bed. He came up from the kiss for air. “Why don’t we stay here tonight?”

“What about the other thing?”

“The other thing can wait,” Steve said. “We can share the bed like we did when we were kids.” He got up and turned off the light, making the room go dark. The only source of light was a small stream from the streetlight outside.

“The bed is kind of small…”

Steve laid back down on the bed and wrapped himself around Bucky’s body. “So?”

“Steve…”

He raised himself. “This is supposed to be our vacation. I’d like to have half a minute where no one knows where we are… and you can’t say things like that to me without expecting things to happen.”

Bucky lay back on the bed, in the dim Steve could make out a wistful look on his face, and he smiled up at him. _Damn, he’s beautiful._

It took a little finagling and laughing but between them; they removed Bucky’s shirt, and then his own and tossed them on the floor and before too long, the pile by the side of the bed grew larger until there was nothing left to throw. Steve knew Bucky only went along with this because it was dark. He squeezed in beside him, and wrapped himself around him again, savoring the feel of Bucky’s warm skin against his own, gently caressing his body with his own. They had never been this intimate before. He let his hands wander touching him in places he hadn't before, always asking Bucky if it was ok, and Bucky gave his consent, not resisting, but he kept his face buried in his shoulder, his fingers digging into his sides, but as always, fell into a deep sleep before anything happened. leaving Steve content as he held him in his arms. This was what he always wanted.

Memories blended with reality the next morning, causing disorientation. He remembered how the sun shone through the window at that angle when he was a child, Bucky sharing his bed, but he was smaller then, the windows seemed much bigger. Sometime in the night, they decided two grown men attempting to share one small bed was over the top, so they pushed them together. He glanced over at Bucky, who was lying on his stomach, out from under the blanket. Part of him wanted to reach out and run his hands up and down the length of his body, but he stopped himself. What they did in the night and stayed in the night.

He pulled his blanket up around himself and covered Bucky. He glanced around the room. Bucky going to all this trouble for him was touching, and he considered his options about this place. Keep it as a hideaway whenever they came to New York, much like their private inlet back on the lake in Wakanda, was tempting, or they could open it to the public. He settled down to let himself drift off when the phone on the table beside the bed started to buzz, bringing him back into the real world. He heard Bucky stir beside him. He turned to face the opposite wall to pick up the phone. It was Tony.

“Steve, where the hell are you?” he demanded. “We just got back and heard about Sam and Thula...”

“We left them with at the Wakandan Embassy,” Steve said. “Are they okay?”

“They’re fine. A very intimidating member of Wakandan security showed up with them at dawn, and we got the recording. They would only talk to Natasha. I thought you two would want to see it since she told me it was your idea to do this in the first place, but that’s not the big news. Someone tried to break in again last night. Here, at the Avengers compound, using old codes but this time it alerted us. We didn't catch them but we need a team meeting ASAP!”

“We’ll be right over,” Steve said. He could sense Bucky was pulling his clothes back on, so he kept his eyes trained on the wall.

“Tell them to have something ready for us to eat,’ Bucky said. Steve sneaked a glance in time to see him pulling his shirt over his head. “I'm starving.”

“Did you hear that, Tony?”

“Yeah, yeah. Food. All you can eat. Just get your asses back over here.”

Steve relayed Tony’s message to Bucky and waited until he disappeared into the tiny bathroom before getting up and dressing, then he did a quick job of making the beds and pushed them apart, leaving the room the same as when they found it. He took his turn in the tiny bathroom after Bucky finished, ending up splashing cold water on his face. He came out to find Bucky trying to brush his hair with a vintage replica of one of his mother’s brushes.

“We look like hell,” he declared. “Maybe they’ll think we were out chasing the bad guys all night.”

Steve went over to him and hugged him. “You okay?” He asked.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”

“Last night was a little different, we went a little further than usual. I just wanted to make sure you didn't mind. I don’t want you doing anything you don’t want to do.”

“It’s okay, and it was an anniversary thing. If you can’t let loose once a year, what’s the point, and it's not like we crossed any major lines.” Then he laughed. “Now, how do we get back? And I wasn’t kidding about food,” he said. That was the end of his discussion about last night. Even if they ever did ‘cross that line’ as Bucky called it, he would probably forget about it by the end of the day and he would only do it if he thought it would make Steve happy, not for his own satisfaction. It wouldn’t change a thing about him, but Steve had accepted that a long time ago.

“Natasha told me the location of another one Tony’s bolt holes near here. Feeling up to flying back to the compound, again?” He picked up his basic black baseball hat, put on his sunglasses, and threw Bucky’s at him, and he caught both with his left hand.

It was a few blocks away, on top of an office building. Tony had a private elevator that went straight to the top so there was no need to interact with anyone. Another small white craft waited for them. Bucky sat down in the pilot’s seat and pushed a few buttons.

“Who the hell does Tony know?” he asked. “It is pre-programmed to find free flight paths…”

“I don’t know, and I don’t ask. Just get us back. The code name is Jayhawk in case anyone asks.”

Someone asked, and after a few minutes, they were in the air, flying back to the Compound again. This time Tony was the one to meet them.

“You know I could have sent a driver,” he said.

“You sounded desperate. And we’re hungry,” Steve said,

“Where were you?” He asked.

“Brooklyn.”

“You took a trip down memory lane at a time like this?” He asked as they walked into the building.

“I'm sorry Tony, I thought everything was under control. Had no idea someone would try a second break-in. Mission go ok? Did you get a look at the intruder?”

“Mission was clockwork, we took care of everything. The intruder, he, or she, could jimmy the system well enough to cover their tracks, just like the kid Luka. Somebody out there knows all our codes. So tell me, why is this thing in Krakestan any of our business? It sounds like local politics to me. Oh, and Natasha warned me to stay away from Fury, at least for now.”

“Good advice. He’s not the same as the guy we knew. As far as your other question, someone wants to pull us in, whether or not we want to.”

“Well, tell them to stop. The rest of it…”

“Is not going away,” Bucky said. “And we might as well deal with it.”

Tony stopped to face them. "Look, I get why you want to know if the one thing is true…”

Bucky stopped in front of him. “Do you? Does anybody get why this is important to me?” His tone was close to becoming confrontational.

“Bucky,'' Steve said, pulling him back. “Let’s just take one thing at a time and we need to ask Jerry…”

“Jerry?” Tony asked. “What’s he got to do with anything?”

“He’s been helping us out while you were gone..”

“Has he really?” Tony asked, letting out a small laugh, and he smirked at the ground before looking back up at the two of them. Without hesitating, he rushed through the doors and began talking rapidly to Friday. Mystified, Steve and Bucky followed him in time to hear his commands.

"Lockdown the facility. Lock it down tight. No one goes in or out and get a fix on Jerry's location. He's got a lot of explaining to do!"


	13. Chapter 13

“Tony, what’s wrong? What’s going on?” Steve asked. Red lights flashed around them. Loud alarms sounded and combined with the snapping sound of locking doors.

“Tell everyone report to the main training area now!” Tony said. He was still giving commands to Friday. 

“Complying” the computer’s usually sassy voice was calm.

“And notify Ms. Potts at the company there’s a situation over here,” he continued.

“Yes, Boss. _Attention, Stark employees_ _, to the main training area. This is not a drill. Everyone to the main training area_ _…_ ” the voice carried through the air adding to the cacophony. Bucky remembered when this happened before, right after the blast in the conference room when he lost his arm for the first time. The sight and sounds brought back unpleasant memories. Tony half walked half ran toward the area.

“Why are you doing this?” Steve asked as they ran along beside him.

Tony stopped for a moment and took a deep breath. “During all this time Jerry was ‘helping you, did he tell you I’d fired him the night before we left?”

“What?” Bucky asked. 

“Why? Steve chimed in.

“Well, I didn’t fire _him,_ fire him. I let him go. I’m going to let all of them go eventually,” Tony said. 

“Why?” Steve repeated.

“Because. When we first got here, there was that time of chaos, Ms. Potts did her best to hold things together, but the business end is more her thing, and this is mine. I had to wait until everything came together, after the chaos ended, then I went off the rails because of that other guy stuck in my head, so there wasn’t time for me to analyze the situation and take stock of what he left behind. His enemy was the consortiums and his goal was to stop them, but they’ve gone, he’s gone. He did a good job, but I just want to start over, do things my way. What did Jerry do?”

“Nothing suspicious that we know of. Flew us here, from Brooklyn, helped us investigate our new friends and kept things together. That’s why you’ve been cross-training your employees, helping them learn new skills…”

“I’m not heartless, I wasn’t going to just throw them out in the street. I’d help set them up somewhere… but right now I need to find him and see what else he got up to,” Tony said. He took a deep breath trying to collect himself. “Nothing suspicious, that you know of, but what did he get up to when no one was looking? We got called out so quick for that mission, no time to wipe him from the system. He knew the codes, he knows where all the bolt holes are. I’m going to need to change locations on those…”

“So who can you trust?” Steve asked as they walked with him.

"Nobody, except you guys. This is why those security breaches keep happening,” Tony said. “He must have been messing with me, and it needs to stop.” The three men almost flew down the hallway to a balcony situated over a large open area. This was where Steve, the old Steve, trained everyone and showed them how to be part of the team. Bucky reflected on all the shouting matches that took place here. “Too many people with too much information that I don’t even know… damn it, what a mess," Tony continued.

People gathered on the floor below. Bucky knew a lot of them by sight, and off to themselves, were the members of the team, all looking mystified. Sam entered separately from Thula, and the two did not appear to be speaking. _Damn it! I was afraid this might happen._

“What the hell is Parker doing here?” Tony asked.

“He was helping us with Luka,” Steve said. "And I don't know why he's still here."

“Where’s Clint?” Tony asked. “I heard you all sent him off…”

“Not back yet.” Bucky scanned the area below. “Jerry’s not down there.”

“Friday, locate Jerry.”

“He’s not in the building Boss, or on the grounds. I cannot locate him and any evidence of him ever being here has been wiped from our systems.” Tony didn't reply but sputtered out a string of curse words.

“He probably took off as soon as he heard you were coming back,” Steve said. “But why stay? Why help us like that?”

“He didn’t want to go,” Bucky offered. “He wanted to make himself look invaluable. Or, he had his own agenda.”

“What agenda? What reason…?” Steve asked. 

Bucky shrugged his shoulders in response, his mind going back over the past few days. "He knew we were in the apartment. He knew Thula and Sam were going to be in the UN, knew about the recording… so does that mean he and Fury are working together?"

“Why?” Steve asked again. Bucky had no answer for him.

Tony walked over to the edge of the balcony, took his glasses off and wiped them on his shirt cuff, then replaced them. He took a moment to compose himself and smiled down at the group. The computer voice and alarms fell silent.

“So everybody here?” He asked. “Department heads, everyone accounted for?” Several people nodded up toward him.

“I’m here to announce that starting today, everyone here gets a two week paid vacation.” A murmur started up from the crowd. “Those of you who have ongoing projects, feel free to work at home, or we’ll arrange something with Ms. Potts where you can work at one of our other facilities, but as of now, this compound is closed to everyone except the Avengers team, and some special guests staying here. I’ll explain everything to you later, but all I can say it’s about safety concerns, but that’s our problem. For now, enjoy your time off.” The murmur grew louder as he stepped back to join Steve and Bucky. “Friday, you have Ms. Potts yet? I’m going to explain all this…”

“Working. She is in transit somewhere. I’ll contact her as soon as possible and direct her here,” The voice said. 

“Did you just fire those people?” Bucky asked.

“Sort of, I sped up the process. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure Pep… Ms. Potts sees they’re taken care of. I need to get to work on those security breaches.”

The murmurs grew louder as the crowd exited toward the parking lot. The three men half ran, half walked down to the main level to join the rest of the team.

“That was… unceremonious,” Natasha said. “What’s going on?”

After they told her, she stared past them to the glass doors. Outside employees were making their way home. Some were on their cell phones, others walking toward their cars. “That accounts for a few things…” her attention came back around to them and focused. “We filled the rest of the team in on what's been happening, and I’m here to tell you that Clint found Luka’s brother, he’s okay, right where you said he’d be. The house was empty, except for him. Luka says as soon as he sees him, he’s got more to tell us.”

“Casimir is dead, we have Mara, and maybe Deja wasn't able to get back there yet. What do we know about what happened at the UN?” Steve asked.

"Two of the perpetrators had nasty wounds on the back of the head, but they’ll be ok. Seems someone else was there…broke a window and took out the perpetrators but the authorities have yet to determine who that was…” she gave them a mischievous wink. The politicians are safe at their embassy, and everyone is on alert. The gas they used was a sedative, no lasting damage. Sam and Thula are fine. This wasn't a terrorist attack, but perhaps a foiled kidnapping. Seems they found some hidden corridors running through the city."

“Two?” Steve asked, impatience in his voice.

“The recording appears to show a third person was in the room. He, or she got away through another exit. There is a minor problem because the security cameras at the UN show Thula and Sam going into the conference room, but not among those transported to the hospital. People, the reporters and the police want to talk to them.” She moved closer and whispered, “and there’s a little trouble in paradise. Sam wanted Thula to stay at the embassy, and despite everything, she doesn’t want to. To say they’re not agreeing is putting it mildly. I could have told you most of this if you’d returned yesterday and normally I wouldn’t ask this question, because it's usually none of our business, but where were you?”

Steve and Bucky exchanged glances. “We didn’t feel right about coming back here right away. We didn’t know if we showed up on anyone’s radar. We have our own safe house,” Bucky said, to save Steve from lying. 

"In Brooklyn,” Tony supplied. “The recording didn't tell us a thing, it was a boring meeting, in their native language, talking about water resources and air quality and on and on, then it went dark, everyone fell over, after that, it was a lot of flashing lights and noise, couldn't make out it who was coming to the rescue, and there might have been a third person with them, but that's not our problem. Feel free to watch it for yourselves, but after that, we need to hand it over to the authorities. We'll send it anonymously."

“What?” Bucky asked. Hard emotions began building up inside him. “You can’t…”

“Yes I can,” Tony said. “We are not the police. I want to hand them all over, tell them everything we know, and work on this!” He spread his arms and waved his hands indicating the compound.

Bucky stepped up until he was right in Tony’s face. Even though he wouldn't have hurt him, a moment of fear passed over the other man, but he bounced back. 

“Look, I told you I get it,” he said, holding his hands up in front of him in a pleading manner. “I understand you have an investment in this, and hey, I was there when Hydra infiltrated Shield back in our world.” He started to pace around the area. “I hacked into their files but they hide it so deeply, me with all my smarts, didn’t find it. Hell, I even helped them perfect some death machines, that they would turn back around on me and mine. If there is even a hint of a genocidal conspiracy in Eastern Europe, we all would want to stop it, and it might be true, but for right now I have to fix THIS.”

“Maybe that’s what they want. Divert our attention so they can’t…” Bucky began, but he felt a tug as Steve pulled him away from Tony. “We understand, Tony,” he said calmly. “Can we at least wait until Luka’s brother gets here and listen to what he has to say?”

“We can do that, but after that…”

“Can I help you tighten this place up, Mr. Stark?” Peter’s voice cut through the tension.

“Yeah, I suppose. We’ll work something out,” he smiled over at the young man. ‘And Wanda,” he turned his attention to Wanda, who had been leaning against the wall. “Do you think you could talk Vision into coming here? Explain everything. I could use him.” 

“Of course, Tony,” she said. “He’ll be glad to help.”

“And Bruce...”

“You don’t need to ask. Whatever I can do to help,” Bruce said.

Tony turned back around to face Steve and Bucky. “You understand my situation here? Us being compromised, not good, for anybody.”

Bucky let out a long sigh and pulled his arm away from Steve. “I get it, but I can’t let this go, we can’t let it go.” Steve and Natasha exchanged that glance again and Tony looked at the floor. “You think I’m losing it, don’t you?”

“We’re not letting it go,” Steve said. “We’re just taking a step back. Let’s help Tony get his house in order and then we’ll go from there. I promise.”

“Besides, you don’t need Tony, or any of us, the answer to your problem is staring you right in the face,” Natasha said. 

“What do you mean?” Bucky asked.

“Well, maybe not right in your face, but close enough. She walked over and took his right hand and held it up so everyone could see his ring. “White Wolf, Prince of Wakanda.”

“No, I don’t do that…”

“Why not? You don’t ask for a lot, and if they knew how much this to you, they’d do all they could to help you out.”

“We would help you!” Thula said. “Just tell me what you want…”

Someone at the glass door interrupted their negotiations. A confused Clint and the young man from the video stood outside.

“Luka’s brother,” Steve said. 

“Let them in!” Tony said as the door opened.

“Hey guys,” Clint said. “What’s going on?”

Between all of them, they explained the situation, Clint’s head bobbed back and forth as he tried to give everyone his attention.

“Is this Milac?” Natasha asked.

“Yeah, and he’s pretty angry at Luka. Speaks pretty good English.”

“Where is my brother?” The young man nearly spat out the accented words. “Our parents told him not to meddle with the past…”

“He’s here,” Natasha said, using her most soothing voice. “We’ll take you to him. Are you all right? You need anything?”

“I’m fine. I just need to have words with that…” he let out an intelligible word in his native language, “brother of mine.”

“Can I go along?” Peter asked. Seeing a young man close to his age among the adults startled Milac, the same way it had his brother Luka.

Natasha nodded her assent and gave Milac a warm smile and showed he should accompany her. As they walked off, Peter took a moment to approach Steve and Bucky.

“He didn’t tell me a lot that was new the other night, about his life back home, but he said things weren’t as they seemed, but he wouldn’t say any more until his brother was safe,” he said. “And I don’t know what he meant by that, but I guess we’ll soon find out.” He hurried after the other two.

No one spoke until they left the room. 

“Add that to the list,” Steve said. 

“What did you find at the house?” Bucky asked.

“Just him. They locked the place up tight, but he had a lot of food, and water, books, a game system, even a computer but no internet. He could have lived there indefinitely, He was trying to rig up his way of escaping, and he might have gotten away, so after I convinced him I was a good guy, we set it up to look like he escaped on his own, but I didn't see anybody. I got in and out with no problem. He’s not bugged. I didn’t see any cameras. I double-checked all the usual things. Left a little memento of my own, just in case someone shows up.”

  
Thanks, Clint,” Steve said. He stared down at the floor for a moment deep in thought before speaking again. “I think it would be a good idea if we all stayed here, close to home, for the time being. We probably should let Rhodey in on this.”

Thula leaned back against the wall just in time for her phone to beep. She stared at it for a few moments, her thumbs scrolling across the screen. “We have another problem,” she said. She held it up. “We’re trending on social media. They knew we were at the UN, and there are all kinds of conspiracy theories about what happened.”

“You told me you didn’t have any social media accounts!” Sam spoke for the first time.

“I said I didn’t have any in my real name,” she said, the tone of her voice short. “But so far, no one has come close to the truth, lots of rumors. No one has mentioned the two of you being there. The interesting news,” she said, directing her attention to Bucky, “is the world is paying attention to that one small country in Eastern Europe. It's in the spotlight. That’s what they wanted. It’s what you wanted. Not the way you wanted, but it’s a beginning.”

Bucky felt Steve’s arm around him, and his hand on his arm, giving him a slight squeeze. The gesture caught Thula’s attention, causing her to move closer. Bucky realized she was looking at Steve’s hand, her eyes focused on his ring. He could tell her sense of decorum was preventing her from asking questions.

“A gift,’ Bucky said, hoping that would be the end. “From me. We’ve been together a year.”

“I see,” she said, her voice low. Her eyes flitted over to Steve, her eyes widening as if she had never seen him before. Bucky didn’t understand her reaction. She knew the nature of their relationship.

At that moment an alert sounded. "Boss, we have a problem," Friday's voice cut through their conversation.

“Now what?” Tony asked.

“I’ve located Ms. Potts.”

“Well, let me talk to her!” His tone was sharp. The events of the day were wearing him down.

A holographic image of Pepper Potts appeared in front of them. She was standing up, her hands clenched.

“Tony,” She said, her voice firm. “I want you to know I am all right.”

“Where the hell are you,” he asked. “We have a situation here.”

“I don’t know where I am.”

At that moment the image of Jerry replaced her. The implications of what had happened shot through the group like electricity.

“She’s with me. I am not planning on hurting her, but I need leverage. My other plans kept falling through, so maybe this would grab someone’s attention,” Jerry said. He was no longer a faithful employee. His eyes and facial expressions were fanatical.

“Leverage for what?” Tony asked. Bucky could sense Tony was using every ounce of his inner reserve to stay calm.

“I need you to come clean.”

“Come clean about what?” Steve asked, stepping over to Tony as if to show solidarity. 

“You know about what. I don’t know who you are, who any of you are, but I need you to come clean about what you did with the real Tony Stark, the real Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, Doctor Bammer and Colonel Rhodes. Do as I say, and I’ll release her, unharmed. I was getting close to the truth, you know I was, and I don't care if you call the police. Call the National Guard, I don't care. The more people the better. The world needs to know you are imposters.”


	14. Chapter 14

“Friday is working overtime on Ms. Pott's location. Jerry knew how to block the communication codes before we could get a fix, but we believe she’s still somewhere in the city. She was in the office this morning, he left from here, we received the communique just a few hours later and we can account for all of Tony’s vehicles and aircraft, so he couldn’t have gotten far,” Natasha said as she entered the conference room where the rest of the team was waiting.

“Can we trust Friday?” Bucky asked.

The night had passed like a blur and now the early morning light was just starting to peek through the windows. Bucky and Steve watched the video Thula had bought. The people on the panel were young, energetic and of mixed ethnic and religious backgrounds. Hardly the sort of people suspected of being involved in any kind of ethnic cleansing. They noticed the third person, a shadow running away from the scene leaving through a fire exit. 

Vision was with them, having arrived not long before and so was Peter. Mara repeated the same story she had before. The four politicians hiding in the Krakestan embassy were part of a conspiracy to bring back the old purges and the Avengers should help them. Fury stuck to his story they were lying, that they were part of a conspiracy to destabilize the region and the team should back off and let him handle it. It was a stand-off.

"Friday is all mine,” Tony replied to Bucky's question. “Put her together after we got here. No one else has been near her, so yes, she’s secure.” He poured himself a coffee from his place at the counter. “The autopsy report says that Casimir died from a fall. They are treating it as an accident. The fire wasn’t a fire, it was a security measure the other guy put in, another thing I didn’t know about,” he continued. “If someone tampers with the smart systems, the lights go out, the alarms go off, then they empty the building. Not a bad plan, except for the guy tripping in the dark. I thought I'd left all that behind, in my other life, the whole 'my stuff killing people' thing."

“That’s not your fault,” Wanda said. “There’s no way you could have known…”

“Somehow still feels like I should have, irrational as that might seem, but then when was I ever rational?” He asked. “I thought I could take my time, revamp everything here on my terms…”

“What was Fury doing there?” Bruce asked.

“He was tracking Casimir. He knew they wanted to pull us in and that you two were staying there, so he did what he always does, tried to throw off our investigation,” Sam said. He spent most of the night grilling Fury, the logic being that it should fall to someone familiar with him. “He’s not saying much else, except to leave the politicians alone and he won't say anything about any connection with Jerry. Says he doesn’t trust us, but then, he never did.”

“Pure Fury. We won’t get much out of him,” Clint said, leaning back in his chair. “This is the weirdest hostage situation I’ve ever been a part of. The first thing they usually say is not to go to the police, and he’s begging us to, and we can’t, not unless you all want to explain…”

“Ms. Potts appears to be ok, and not frightened,” Natasha interjected. “He has no reason to hurt her. It's in his best interest to make sure she’s not harmed. The only reason he’s not going to the authorities is that, well, to any reasonable person, his story sounds crazy. They would probably dismiss him as a crank.”

“Who else is in on this?” Tony asked, slamming the cup down so hard some of its contents spilled out. A long silence followed. “We didn’t cover our tracks, and we got careless. We should have known someone would have noticed we were a little different from the way we were before… not all of us had the luxury of hiding out in Wakanda!”

Bucky felt a small surge of guilt. Tony was right. Even though they were still part of the team and were always quick to join the others as soon as any call came out, the Wakandan branch didn't have to worry about hiding anything. Maybe Steve was right, maybe it would be better if they were all back here in New York, facing things together.

An unfamiliar beep sounded. “Yes, Friday,” Tony snapped. 

“Communication from Colonel Rhodes,” she replied.

“Fine,” he said with little enthusiasm.

Rhodey’s face appeared to the right of the table. “I heard Tony, Friday told me everything. What do you need me to do?”

Tony rubbed his forehead for a moment as if he were in pain. “I don’t know what you can do. You’re on the hit list. If I were you, I’d find a place to hole up for a while…”

Steve reached out and grabbed Bucky’s arm. Something had just occurred to him.

“Can you check out these Krakestan rumors? Find Natasha's friend and coordinate your efforts. We want no more information filtered through people with agendas, we need intel we can trust. That way you’ll be out of the spotlight here, and you can take care of something we can’t,” Steve said.

Rhodey looked at Tony for confirmation. Tony nodded his ascent. “Yeah, do that. Works for me, check that out, find out the truth, so we can concentrate on this.”

“Will do, Tony, everyone, take care, and I’ll keep in touch through the usual channels.” The hologram disappeared.

Bucky felt relief and annoyance at the same time. That mission should be his, not Rhodey's but at least something was being done.

"Now that that’s taken care of,” Steve said, assuming the status of team leader, “We have two things we need to do. Find Ms. Potts and secure the compound. So, Vision, Peter…?"

“We are already working on containing the breeches at least in theory,” Vision said. “My systems started processing various alternatives as soon as I received the information. I believe we have sufficient intelligence present to help Mr. Stark update his security system and I have uploaded several suggestions from Shuri. We might call on the rest of you to assist us. We will need to work out scenarios to help us counter-act certain situations that might not occur to us, as some of you are more worldly wise…”

“He means he will want us to role-play as saboteurs,” Wanda said. “Come up with ideas on our own on how to breach the system.” 

“We can do that,” Steve said. 

“Can Luka and his brother help us?” Peter asked, his mannerisms tentative. Another long silence followed. “They’re both, well, they’re like me and I know this won't count for much, but I trust them.”

Tony took a long drink from his cup. “Maybe, after Rhodey gives us the green light on them. That is if it’s ok with you, Cap?”

“If you’re comfortable with it, Tony,” Steve replied.

“Fury is a first-class hypocrite,’ Tony said. “He tells us that Peter’s too young to work with us and then recruits a kid like Luka…”

“He’s not our Fury, Tony,” Steve said. Bucky, aware of Steve’s hand still on his arm. His touch made his thoughts wander back to their time in their old apartment. Their romantic encounters usually faded away with the morning, something he couldn’t help, or hang onto, and when he told Steve each time was like the first time, he was telling the truth, but now the memory of being alone with him, the smell, the taste, the feel of him being close crowded everything else out of his mind. He wanted to go back there, to their little apartment, and be like they used to be. He looked up and noticed Thula staring at Steve’s hand again, at his ring. She raised her face to look at Bucky in the eyes. 

“I think I should go stay at the Embassy, for now,” she said, her quiet voice grabbed everyone's attention. Sam turned in his chair to stare at her. 

“What brought this on?” He asked.

“It's not because I’m afraid!” She said, “I’m not.”

“You’ve stared down hippos and crocodiles,” Natasha said. “No one would think that.”

“The compound is not secure, and with Colonel Rhodes is leaving, you will need someone on the outside who can help you if you need them…” she began.

“A lifeline,” Steve said. “A connection to the outside world. Excellent idea, Thula.”

“We’ll have Friday kit her up with a means of communication,” Natasha said. “The Wakandans, don’t have a dog in this fight. They’ll help. Good idea.”

“If you’re not careful, you might accidentally become a member of the team when no one’s looking,” Clint said. Smiles broke out among the group, despite the circumstances. 

Thula’s idea sparked something inside Bucky. “Steve and I should go with her,” he said. His suggestion caused everyone to sit up and take notice, and a few raised eyebrows. “Get Friday to contact the embassy, and request a means of transport. We’ll act like we’re leaving the country, but once we’re at the Embassy…”

“We’ll start looking for Ms. Potts, via the underground.” Steve finished, startling Bucky. It was as if he’d read his mind. “He’s the only one who knows it well enough to use it. They’ve already used one safe house, and if Clint fooled them enough to think Milac escaped, so they don’t know he’s here, they might not know we’re onto them.”

“Not only that, I know about the safe houses left behind by the other consortiums. The Starks had a few of their own. They might have used one of those,” Bucky added.

“And how long is this going to take,” Tony asked.

“I don’t know, but I know we can do it quieter, and quicker than anyone else,” Bucky said. “I’ll ask the Wakandans to set up Thula as our mediator back to you and I’ll suck it up and ask them to borrow a few things. Thula, I’m sorry your trip to New York got so messed up, and it means you’ll be sitting by the phone for a while but…”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I’m happy to help.”

“Good thing Friday’s an AI,” Sam said. “We’d have to pay her triple golden overtime.” He and Thula exchanged a glance and a half-smile before looking away. Bucky wanted to tell them just to make up, but it would be hypocritical. He and Steve weren’t fighting, but some rocky things were going on in their relationship.

“So, most of you will do whatever Tony needs to fix the security problem,” Steve said.” Natasha, you’ll continue to see to our guests and get what information you can out of them, and you’ll be our liaison with Rhodey. Sam, you assist her. Thula’s on standby at the Embassy, relay all messages to us from Friday through here and we’ll do the same. Are we leaving anything out?”

All around the table, the members of the team stared at the table or the walls. Bucky knew they were searching their brains as was he, trying to find that one thing they missed.

“I think we’ve covered everything,” Tony said. 

“Then I’ll contact the embassy, and prepare to leave,” Thula said.

‘And we’d best suit up,” Steve said. “I’ll want my Shield.”

“This is kind of weird, now that you think about it,” Peter said. “I mean it is weird, weird but a different kind of weird.”

“What do you mean?” asked Tony.

“Nobody knows about this but us. There are some people at the Wakandan Embassy, and Natasha’s reporter friend and people know something happened at the U. N, but all of this, conspiracy not conspiracy business, we’re the only ones who know. We usually deal in major things, like alien invasions and stuff like that, and it’s all over the place, but this, it’s just us.”

“Damn it!” A thought occurred to Bucky. He mentally castigated himself for not thinking of it sooner. “The people Tony had to send away, they’re going to talk. It will make its way to social media, and then people will ask questions, and that means mainstream media, which means…’

"People will come around here, wanting to know more,” Natasha said. “Ms. Potts usually handles things like that, but with her out of the way. I suppose those of us that crossed over could bluff our way through but eventually…"

“Sam, we might have an additional assignment for you. You up to dealing with the press?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know, Cap. I’m not a PR person…”

“I can help you with that,” Natasha said. 

“And Fury thought it was a mistake to keep you around,” Tony said. “At least the other guy did one thing right.” He smiled at Peter, who blushed at the compliment. “So, Sam, congratulations on your promotion. You’re our official spokesperson until Ms. Potts returns.”

“Hope I don’t mess up,” Sam said. Bucky had seen him look more comfortable facing down a room full of armed guards.

“One last thing before we go,” Steve said. “Natasha, can you go get Luka and ask him to come here? Now that his brother is safe, I want to know what he was holding back.”

They waited, as Natasha and Peter left the room. Bucky was impatient to be off. Tony sat down and started to drum his fingers on the table, as was his habit. Steve removed his hand from his arm and Thula continued to scroll on her phone. Vision’s eyes went into that weird space where he was reading something inside his mechanical mind. After a few minutes, she returned with the two young men. With a wave of the hand, she showed they should join the others at the table. They sat down on either side of Peter.

“So, your brother is here, safe…” Steve asked.

‘Yes, thank you,” Luka said. 

“What did you want to tell us?” 

He didn’t answer right away, opting to take a long look around the room, and his eyes focused on the window for a moment, then returned to Steve.

“The man, Jerry, believes there are imposters, infiltrators here, among you, perhaps aliens who showed up during the crisis. He’s been gathering evidence for a while and created a plan to trap you. He contacted Nick Fury, and he agreed that, in his own words, something was up. Together they created a scenario so they could observe how you reacted. It was to be their final proof. They looked through records and discovered what happened in Krakestan, and heard the rumors about Vinosky, that his death was a mercy, and that the Asset might have killed him. They found a connection to the team…”

“So all this crap about a conspiracy, it’s just an act?” Sam asked. Bucky felt his whole body stiffen with anger.

"Me, and Casimire and Deja and Mara, we’re who we say we are. People who had family hurt by the purges. We were so desperate to find answers, to have justice that they convinced us that things were going on in high places… and that included this high place. We help them and they’ll help us. They wanted to bring you to a stalemate to see you would react. Not everything went as planned. We didn't count on the system reacting the way it did at the apartment building, and Casimir's death, and I swear, what happened at the U.N. had nothing to do with us. I don't know where Dejan is, or what he's up to. It seems he has his own agenda and-"

“They used you,” Natasha said. 

“There was some truth to their suspicions. Some of you didn't react the way you would have before. Captain Rogers, you would not have taken your time, you would not have been so careful, you would have just taken this on and what’s the phrase? Ran with it. It surprised me when I first met you, you were not at all as they had led me to believe, nothing like what I’ve seen on the news reports, and the same for Mr. Stark, and Agent Romanoff. She was supposed to be cold, and standoffish, so I thought perhaps, Jerry was right but, after being with you, talking to you, and because of Peter, I trust you. I don’t think you are here to harm anyone. Am I close to the truth?”

“I’d trust all these people with my life,” Peter said. “There’s no reason to be afraid of them.” Luka stared at him for a long time, probably deciding whether to accept his non-answer.

“The politicians, I no longer believe they have anything to do with this. They don’t know. They are like us, pawns.” Luka sat back, his face twisted into a scowl.

“Fury’s been preaching at us not to destabilize the region, so what does he do? Plans a con that will cause destabilizing the region,” Clint said.

“Look at it from their point of view,” Vision said, sitting up straighter in his chair. “To them, it is a means to an end. A political coup in one small region of the world pales compared to what might well be an alien invasion. We know that it is nonsense, but the world has already endured a near cataclysmic event. It would be logical for people to be on their guard, to look out for anomalies and when they see them, do what they can to deal with it. I don’t believe our man Jerry is a villain. Just very, very mistaken.”

"Why the hell did they have to start with me?" Bucky said. He wanted to rage, to hit things.

“I think the rumors about Vinosky are true,” Luka said. “You saved the country from a great evil, even if it was by accident.”

“But they knew it would play on my guilt,” Bucky said. He pushed his chair back and got up from the table and turning to the window so he wouldn’t have to look at the rest of them. “And they knew I would want to pull in the rest of the team because…”

He didn’t turn around, but he knew Steve had risen to join him. He felt his hands on his shoulders, turning him around to face him.

“Bucky, this would happen eventually. People, ordinary people would notice. We got careless.” They stared at each other, Steve’s eyes not moving, holding his gaze. Once again Bucky desired nothing more than to fly away from here, back to the tiny apartment, anyplace where the two of them could be alone. He realized the whole team was watching them and took a step back.

'Careless, that’s what we’re going to call it? Reckless is more like it."

“They find something they can use, and exploit it,” Natasha said. “You know this, and for the record, wanting vindication is not a weakness.”

“No, it not, In fact, I’ve been looking for it all my life,” Tony said.

"So should we just call up Jerry and tell him something he wants to hear?” Sam asked. "Or tell him the truth and hope he understands and stays quiet about it?"

“We don’t know who else he’s pulled in,” Clint said. “But if we can get to him, privately, yes, we tell him but we need to do it quick. He might risk being called a crank if he finds out the news is onto Tony sending his people away.”

“Ms. Potts, if he’s allowed her to talk, is probably doing what she can to ease into the conversation,” Steve said. “And we’ve spent too much time talking. We all know what we need to do. Bucky, Thula and I will leave for the Wakandan Embassy within the hour. The future of the world may not rest on what we do, but the need to maintain the trust they’ve given us is. That’s just as important as any threat we might face. Good luck everybody.”


	15. Chapter 15

Steve was tired of flying back and forth from the city, even if the small Wakandan craft was comfortable and quiet. Peter had been right. Reporters were gathering on the perimeter of the compound. He and Bucky made a big show of carrying their luggage aboard but the press didn't know they were carrying their gear and Steve’s shield. Sam and Thula shared the briefest of goodbyes before he went to face the media, after being coached by Natasha. Thula sat across from them, lost in her thoughts. She stared down at Bucky’s gloved hand for a moment.

“You are not wearing your rings,” she said. 

“Too valuable,” Steve said. “We’ll ask your people lock them up when we get there. With everything going on, we didn't want to leave them at the compound.”

“Your people?” She asked, with a slight smile. “By accepting that, you became one of our people.”

“So Bucky tells me,” he said, unsure of where she was taking the conversation.

“Did he tell you about the Umsitho?”

Bucky’s attention snapped back around from the window. For a second Steve thought he could sense panic in his face, but he quickly recovered. “Not yet. I was waiting until we got back... home.” He turned his attention to Steve. “It’s a ceremony, adopting you as part of the Wakandan nation.”

Steve noticed his hesitation with the word home. "So what kind of ceremony is this?”

“Simple, but traditional. I had mine when I first came to Wakanda, in the gardens outside the Palace complex,” he said.

“The one where they gave you a certificate written with the Vibranium ink?” Steve asked. He didn’t say that he knew Bucky had no idea where it was now.

“Yes. I don't remember much about it, I was in a daze, still recovering from my injuries from the bombing…”

“We remember,” Thula said. “But if you are giving the rings to the people at the Embassy for safekeeping, they will ask.”

“Thank you for the heads-up,” Steve said. They remained silent for the rest of the trip. Steve fought back and an urge to reach out and take Bucky’s hand, but could sense the vibe from him this wasn’t the time or place but that didn’t stop him from looking at him. He knew Bucky’s memory of their night in the old apartment had probably faded away by now, like most of his memories of their romantic encounters, which was odd considering how well he remembered everything else in his life, but it was vivid in his own head. He wondered why Bucky hadn't told him about the ceremony. Was it because of his own awakened emotional stirrings of being back in New York and he didn't want to influence him? 

It didn’t take long until they were on the roof of the Embassy and escorted downstairs through back doors and hidden hallways to a small nondescript room where the Ambassador and an aide were waiting. Thula was right. The ambassador, a man named Cebo Tyali greeted them. They had already briefed him about their mission. After exchanging pleasantries, and fiddling with his luggage, Steve presented the rings to the Ambassador for safekeeping and just as Thula had predicted, the official asked the question.

“When we return home after all this is over,” Bucky replied, no hesitation this time.

“Very good,” he responded, handing them to his aide. She waved a stylus, and a hidden compartment opened in the wall, revealing a box where she placed the rings and it shut automatically. She waved a stylus and waves of purple string-like material wrapped around it, then the whole thing disappeared back into the wall, leaving no doubt it would be safe. If Steve didn’t know any better, the whole process could have been mistaken for magic.

“I have the information you requested,” Cebo said. Waving his hand, a map of the city appeared before them, but the script had a bluish tint, instead of the gold used with Tony’s system. “The city demolished two of the houses and repurposed the other two. That leaves two apartments. One of them is empty. The other shows signs of life and there is this.”

A video of a tall apartment building, zeroing in on a figure walking away from the main entrance. Jerry. 

“He left the building about an hour ago and has not returned. If you get there quickly, you might extract Ms. Potts before he gets back,” Cebo said. “We can help you.”

“Right now we need stealth, but we might need your help later. That building belonged to the Stark Consortium,” Bucky said. “Mr. Stark has so many properties, he may not have even remembered this one.”

“But Jerry did,” Steve said. 

"We can hardly just walk up to the front door. He probably has facial recognition software patched into the local security cameras. He’ll have everything turned on an see us coming a long way off," Bucky said. "We need to travel by a more circuitous route."

“We have something here that might help you,’ the aide said. She produced two small headsets with a small clear optical cover over one eye. 

“They’ll help us see sensors, and heat signatures, even in daylight,” Bucky explained.

“Good,” Steve said, fitting one on his head. It was light, he could barely tell it was there. The surrounding room lit up with small infrared rays of light. The Wakanda Embassy was very secure. Bucky did the same. “Thank you.”

“You should filter any communication to us or the compound through Thula,” Bucky said. “And thank you.” He bowed to the Ambassador and the aide, and they returned the courtesy, and he and Steve left the room.

Steve followed him down the hallways, and it wasn’t long until they arrived back in the small office where they had left Sam and Thula just a few days before. They dropped their luggage on the sofa and suited up. Steve pulled out his uniform and changed. Bucky pulled out some small firearms, which he strapped to his side and thigh. He did the same with several knives. The last thing to come out was the Shield which Steve placed on his back.

“Ready?” He asked. Bucky nodded, and they returned to the corridor. Bucky stood still for a moment as if to get his bearings. 

“We’re taking a different route,” He said after a moment’s reflection. “We’re not going underground. We’re going up. It'll be faster this way. Ready for a climb?”

“You know the way,” Steve said. He followed him out of the double doors and back down the corridor until they reached another set of fake elevator doors which Bucky forced open. Once inside, he pulled himself up onto the steep stairs with his metal hand and swung around to look at Steve. 

“Going up!” He said and began the long climb and Steve followed hard after. Up and up they went, their boots making a slight tapping on the stairs as they ran up. 

“So this Umsitho? Does this mean I can’t be Captain America if I’m a citizen of Wakanda?” Steve asked.

“Don’t be stupid. Of course, you can. We can skip the whole thing if you like, it’s not a requirement or anything.”

“I don’t want to offend anyone…”

“You wouldn’t. I mean, if you want to go back…”

“Now it’s your turn to be stupid. I want to go back, but you could have said something.”

“I didn’t think anyone would notice,” Bucky said. “I thought it would be a thing just between you and me.” He sped up his climb. Steve took a moment to look ahead. The stairs went on forever. He didn’t look back and despite their mission, he couldn’t push Bucky’s suggestion out of his head. _Do I want to go back?_ He had no choice. He was Bucky’s partner and Wakanda was part of his life, even if that meant he was a permanent visitor, but if staying with Bucky meant taking this step, he would. 

At length, they came to a door that Bucky forced open, and they were on a rooftop, the familiar skyline to the east of them.

“It’s a couple of blocks that way,” Bucky said, pointing north. “You up to a little running and jumping?”

“I’ll try to keep up,” Steve said. Bucky started running the length of the rooftop and with an easy movement jumped and landed safely on the roof of the next building. Steve followed him, not looking down. 

“This is better than sneaking around underground hallways,” Steve said. 

“I thought you'd agree,” Bucky said. “Two more buildings.” Two more runs and jumps, but the second one they changed direction, jumping across a wide street instead of an alley.

“Would anyone see us?” Steve asked as he landed again by his side.

“No,” Bucky said. “See the position of the sun? If anyone saw anything, it would be two black spots against the light. They’d probably think we were birds.”

“Too bad Sam isn’t here,” Steve said. 

“That, they would notice,” Bucky said, smiling for the first time since they started this little adventure. He tapped the headphone twice. “Thula?” 

“I’m here,” a voice answered in both their sets.

“Tell the folks at the compound we have the safe house in sight, and we’re almost positive it’s the place where Ms. Potts is being held. We’ll check back as soon as we know for sure. Any word from Tony?”

“Yes. They have managed to ‘stop the leaks’ in the outside perimeter, so no one can get in at least. We'll relay them to you when it is time.”

“Thank you, Thula,” Bucky said. He pointed to the building catty-corner from where they were standing. “We need to get down to ground level. There is some scaffolding on the back of that, but it’s fake.”

“So how do we get down?’ Steve asked. “We can’t just jump down in the middle of the street. That they would notice!”

“It’s a good thing we’re not afraid of heights,” Bucky said. “Follow me and hold on.” He disappeared over the edge of the building. Steve walked over to see him hanging onto an ornamental fixture, then drop to a ledge. Steve imitated him, dropping beside him. They repeated the procedure until they came to the top of a fire-escape which they easily unfolded and allowed them to access the street. 

“Now we go underground,” Bucky said, ‘but not for long.” He easily pried open a manhole cover and went inside. Once again Steve followed, replacing the cover. Bucky tapped the headset and a light came on, opening up the tunnel. He kept close to the wall, and after a few hundred yards of this, he came to another manhole which he gingerly opened, taking care to look around. Then he pushed it up and pulled himself out. They came out behind the building and there was the ubiquitous scaffolding that seemed to be everywhere around New York.

Bucky touched his headset and motioned for Steve to do the same. Sensor traps were everywhere. 

“We can see them, but what can we do about them?” Steve asked.

“We can avoid most of them, but I think we can deflect some of them, without disrupting the circuit. I suspect Vibranium can absorb the signal.” He scooted to lay face down on the ground and rolled, keeping clear of the lower beams of energy. Steve pulled the shield off his back and slid it along the ground to him it to him and followed suit, getting close to the rough pavement and glad he had worn his helmet. They took turns stepping over the next few until they were finally at the door. One final one stretched out in front of them. Bucky extended his arm, and Steve held up the Shield. The light bounced from Bucky’s arm to the Shield and back to the source. Another step and they were in front of the key card.

“Can the Wakandan tech figure out the passcode?” Steve asked. 

"Probably, but I don’t think we need it to."

“Its needs fingerprints.”

“So it does,” Bucky took a breath and entered a few numbers before Steve could stop him and placed the index finger of his right hand on the pad. They both braced for impact. Steve pulled the shield around in front of both of them but to their surprise, the door opened.

“My information is still in the records. I took a chance that Jerry hasn’t wiped it yet.”

“Helluva chance. Next time, warn me!”

“Sorry” Bucky lowered his voice. “Spur of the moment thing. You go first this time.”

Steve entered, holding up the Shield, and it was a good thing he did. From out of nowhere, bright red rays that might have seriously injured a normal person bounced harmlessly off his shield. He knelt down and motioned for Bucky to get down behind him. A ray shot out behind them and this time Bucky deflected it with his arm. 

“They must have some kind of alert somewhere. He must know we’re here.” Bucky said, ducking as a ray went over his head.

“Where is this room, exactly?” Steve said, raising his Shield to deflect another ray.

“Second floor. We should take the stairs. I wouldn’t trust the elevator.” They waited until there was a break from the flashing triggers to make their move, Steve holding the shield in front of them, and together they piled into the stairwell, both bending low, but the attacks had ceased.

“I guess they counted on no one getting this far,” Steve said. He took the lead, running up the stairs and once again held the Shield in front of him, allowing Bucky to guide him to the room, which he forced open. Ms. Potts was there, alone. She had been staring out the window but turned around, the momentary panic on her face giving away to relief.

“Steve, Bucky, I’m so glad to see you!”

“Are you ok?” 

“Yes, I’m fine, He didn’t hurt me. He just needed me to get your attention. I didn’t know Tony had let him go so when he called me to meet him, I went to meet him, and he knows. He doesn’t know the details, but...he knows, but he thinks you’re aliens. I tried to convince him otherwise but...”

“We’ll deal with him later, right now, we need to get you out of here,” Steve said. 

“Did he say when he’s coming back?” Bucky asked.

"That’s just it, he’s not coming back. I don't know where he's headed, but he’s set up traps, at the compound, in case they try to fix the system. I don’t know what that entails…"

“Which is what they are doing right now…” Steve said. “Damn it. He set this up before he left. He’s probably turned the compound against us…”

Bucky tapped his headphones. “Thula?” 

“Yes?”

“We made it to the safe house. Ms. Potts is ok, but Jerry isn’t here. Can you connect me with Tony?” 

A long moment passed.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to get through.”

“Damn!”

“What is wrong? What has happened?” she asked. Steve could sense she was doing her best to fight back a rising panic.

"We need to get back to the compound, right away, "Bucky said. 

"I can send someone to get you… but you should know, the crowd outside the compound has grown. More reporters. It’s on the news and trending. Sam did a good job of answering their questions, without telling them anything. He said he'd return in thirty minutes, but the time limit has come and gone. What is happening?"

“Damn it. Thula, there's no easy way to say this. Jerry has sabotaged the compound. Everyone we left behind might be in grave danger. We need people, tech people, and security people to meet us at the compound. We need to find a way to warn Tony and the others to stop with their upgrades and to get to a safe place!”

"Yes, I understand. I’m on it," she said, her voice calm.

Bucky shut down the device and turned to face his companions.

“If we can get her over there,” Steve said. “Ms. Potts can deal with the press.”

“Why, what’s going on?” Ms. Potts asked, “And please, call me Pepper.”

“Tony had to send his employees away, and apparently they talked and it’s trending or it could have been Jerry talked, we don’t know…but we need to get there anyone gets hurt.”

“Did Jerry talk to a smart system while he was here?” Bucky asked.

“Yes,” Pepper allowed herself a small smile. “All of Stark’s buildings have one. This one is George. He won’t listen to me. I’ve tried. He probably reset it not to respond to me.”

“George,” Bucky spoke to the air. “This is Bucky Barnes, also known as White Wolf.’

“Yes, Mr. Barnes,” the disembodied voice said, startling all three of them.

“Bob’s twin,” Steve said sarcastically. “Another shot in the dark?”

“Shut down the security system for the safe house,” Bucky said. He turned to them, shrugging his shoulders. “It’s worth a try.”

“Systems shut down.” The voice replied. Everyone in the room relaxed a little.

“Jerry’s smart, but he didn’t think of everything. He was intent on wiping Tony from the system, but he forgot about the rest of us, and he apparently didn’t suspect me of being an alien.”

“He didn’t think we would get this far,” Steve said. “He didn’t know we were on to them using the safe houses. This is it, it was this simple, getting in and out of here?” he asked as he replaced the Shield on the back of his uniform.

"Yes, but this wasn’t his main objective,” Bucky replied. “Ms. Potts, Pepper was right. This was just a means to an end, to get our attention. He was probably hoping we would call the police, but this was just a trial run. His main target is the compound and I can tell you now getting them out of there will not be this easy."


	16. Chapter 16

Steve and Bucky crept through the forest outside the compound, listening as the sound of murmuring voices drifted over to them from the other side. The press. They waited until they heard a sudden rise in the noise as the reporters attempted to yell over one another.

“Pepper showed up,” Steve said, still not quite used to using her first name. “She’ll take care of them.” The waiting media did not know an entourage of Wakandan personnel accompanied her. Somewhere tucked inside a vehicle, Thula sat, patiently waiting for their communication. 

They approached the empty guard station in tandem. A large ugly looking gold beam showed up on their small optical screens, blocking their way. Their first obstacle. Steve broke the cover from the outer keypad, then tapped his headphones. “Can you hear us?” He asked Thula. “We’re in position.”

“Yes,” she replied. “The first codeword is excelsior, and the passcode is 804562.”

“Excelsior,” Bucky said loudly to the air as Steve typed in the numbers. To their relief, the ugly gold beam disappeared from the screen.

“That looked nasty,” Bucky said. “Remind me to have a word with Tony later.”

“I think it was temporary, just until they reworked the system.” He looked behind him. The gold beam reappeared. “That’s the only one we knew we could get through. Now we…”

“Oh damn,” Bucky said. “Look at that.” 

Steve turned around to face a wall of thicker sensor beams crisscrossing into an almost solid wall between them and the doorway.

“Think the Vibranium will absorb it?” Bucky asked.

“We’ll find out,” Steve said. He took a deep breath and took a step forward, assuming the position. It was the same dangerous dance they did at the apartment building but on a much larger scale. A beam hit the shield and then rerouted around him, but fortunately, Bucky was there to meet it, deflecting it with his arm. The other beams took up the dance, spiraling around them, and breaking up temporarily to form a crazy-looking constellation of light. Together they moved through the field, Bucky hiding behind Steve, his arm outstretched and together they were constantly turning, their hyper reactions working overtime until they came to the edge of the building. The beams stopped attacking them and reformed. 

"Good thing we’re enhanced and have Vibranium at our disposal," Steve said. "I don't anyone else could have made it." He looked over to Bucky who was holding onto his real arm. He held it up to reveal a nasty burn.

“Got nicked,” he said. “I’ll be ok. Hurts like hell. I can’t imagine what it would do to a normal person.”

“I don’t want to think about it,” Steve said. He saw more sensors covering the door through the optical lens. They stood in a small safe area where one batch of sensors ended and another began.

“We can’t touch the windows,” Bucky said. 

Steve took a step back and checked out their position. “I wonder if we could crawl on the roof, maybe get down through the vents?”

At that moment they heard a rumbling, from deep inside the building.

“What the hell is that?” Bucky asked. “He didn't program the thing to fall down on itself did he?”

“Maybe Tony is doing something,” Steve offered. The noise became louder and closer and it triggered Steve’s memory.

“Back!” He said. “Get back!” 

Bucky didn’t hesitate but sprang to the side just in time. The walls started to crumble as a familiar sight broke down the door. The green-skinned Hulk roared as he burst through the rubble.

“Hulk!” Steve yelled, remembering how he didn’t like being referred to as Bruce. “Hey big guy, it’s us. Steve and Bucky. Don’t go out there! It’s a force field!”

The Hulk stopped short of going through the lasers. He curled his hands and stared down at the two of them.

“Are you alright?” Steve asked. “Are the others…?”

“Hulk must breakthrough, get help,” the giant said.

“We’re here, the Wakandans are here,” Steve said forcing his voice to stay as calm as possible. The Hulk kept his fists tightly curled but gradually his yellow eyes changed the color back to the familiar brown of Bruce Banner. His facial features morphed and his skin color returned to normal. Bruce fell to his knees.

“Thank God,” he said. “I didn’t like the idea of him rampaging around out here, but we were out of options.”

“What’s it like in there?” Steve asked.

Bruce stared up at the two of them. “It’s hell. Jerry armed the compound against us. It started without warning. First Luka stepped into a beam, and he’s hurt bad and no matter where we turned, they were there. Fortunately, the next one hit Vision, and he could self heal. We realized we had to stand still, and after shouting a lot, back and forth we found a safe place. Between Peter’s extra senses, Friday, Wanda and Vision, we created a path to a utility room, but it re-adjusted to everything we threw at it like it knew what to expect. Every time Wanda or Vision, or Tony tries something new, it has a counter-attack ready. We’ve done what we could for Luka, but he needs a doctor. He’ll survive, but he’s in a lot of pain.”

Bucky rubbed the wound on his arm and peered at the large gaping hole in the wall the Hulk left. 

“Don’t go in there. Hulk just forced his way through,” Bruce said. “It still hurt.”

“Is Jerry in there?” Steve asked.

“I don’t know,” Bruce said. “He keeps showing us these… weird videos and holograms…they pop up on the walls, out of thin air…”

“Of what?”

“Of Tony, the way he was before, and the way he is now, of you and Natasha and me and Rhodey- to show how different we are from the originals, and he’s right, we are different people. He’s been gathering info for a long time. He’s not crazy, he’s not evil, he’s just frightened. I think he intended to televise it across the country, but one thing Peter and his friend did, at great personal risk, was to reroute it, so according to them, we’re the only ones who can see it. It was really brave of them, and they barely made it back. That utility room is small and hot. They need water. That’s why I did it. I didn’t even ask because they would try to talk me out of it. I just left.”

“We understand,” Steve said. He tapped on the headphones. “Bucky, I know you don't like this, but we're out of options. Thula!”

“Yes” her voice came back.

Steve explained the situation. “We could use some help back here,” he said. 

It was only a matter of minutes before a small team of two men and two women showed up outside the guard post, each wearing purple Vibranium infused uniforms with hoods pulled tight around their heads. Steve shouted the codes to them, and they kept their heads down, plowing through the sensor field until they were standing beside them, surveying the building. Steve made a mental note to ask to have his own uniform redone with the magic material.

“How are things going over there?” Bucky asked. Even during the chaos, he remembered to stick to the protocol.

“Ms. Potts has things under control, but someone in a blue van pulled up to the compound as soon as you called us…we didn’t wait to see who it was.”

Steve’s mind went back in time. Was it just a few days ago that a van matching that description had tried to follow them? “Damn,” he said “But that’s got to wait for later. We have to get our people out of there.”

“Yes,” one of them said. “Let us first try this.” Reaching into his pack, he pulled out several Kimoyo beads and tossed them inside the opening. They rolled across the floor like small bowling balls. Rapid-fire began as the sensors picked them up, shooting directly at the beads, but the energy from the beads responded and stopped the sensors. He threw another set, and they rolled down the hallway, unprovoked. There was silence.

“It was as we hoped,” the young man said. “Whoever programmed this did not take Vibranium into account. I think we may proceed.

"Maybe next time you'll not wait so long to ask the Wakandans for help," Steve said. Bucky bit his lip at his gentle admonition. Tapping his headphones revealed no beams. "We’ll move in, but stay alert,” Steve said. “We don’t know what else he has up his sleeve."

Cautiously they went single file down the room, with Bruce leading the way. Another hallway, another roll of beads, more fireworks. Steve turned a corner but an image of Tony projected on a blank wall stopped him in his tracks. It took him a minute to realize he was looking at one of the video images Bruce mentioned. He appeared to be speaking to a large group of people, but it was almost like watching a parody of Tony. His voice monotone, no change in inflection, no pop culture references, none of the mischievous light in his eyes that Steve knew so well.

“That’s our Tony,” Bucky said. The picture changed, this time it was his Tony addressing his employees. The contrast was startling. The animation on his face and the laughs he pulled from the group. A casual viewer comparing the two might have thought Tony Stark had either undergone a personality transplant or was on drugs, but it was clear he was not the same person.

Then Jerry’s face filled the screen. “This is just a small sampling of what I have noticed over the past year. There is more…”

In another short video, this one of a cold, standoffish Natasha, standing still and looking imperious, and their Natasha, caught in a moment, smiling and laughing. Jerry’s voice-over continued over the images. “They are impostors! Why are they here? What do they want from us?”

“Come on,” Steve said. “We don’t have time for this.” More beads, more fireworks until they finally arrived at a small nondescript door. He and Bucky forced it open. Inside they found Luka, lying on the floor, crying in pain, his shirt open, exposing a nasty red burn mark across his torso. He was holding tight to the hand of his brother, with Sam, Clint, and Natasha kneeling over him. In another corner Vision, Tony, Wanda, and Peter had their heads together, probably trying to come up with a plan.

“Bruce!” Natasha said, standing up. “It worried us sick, you taking off like that…”

"Sorry to scare you, but I had to get help, and it turns out they were right outside trying to work their way in."

“Is Pepper…” Tony began.

‘She’s fine, she’s right outside, trying to stall the media.”

“So what the hell is going on?” Sam asked. “What…”

“We’ll tell you, as soon as we get you out of here, we don’t know what else this guy has planned,” Steve said. “Let us and the Wakandans go first.”

“We must take care of this,” one woman said. She knelt by Luka and pulled a tube of something out of her pack Gently she spread an ointment across the wound, and the young man relaxed. “Feel better?” She asked.

“Yes, thank you,” he replied. 

“Can you stand?” Steve asked. Luka nodded and pulled himself up with Peter and his brother's support.

“Let’s hope this thing hasn’t reset itself,” Bucky said.

The hall stayed quiet, but they rounded a corner just in time to see a video of Rhodey yelling harsh words at a subordinate, before flipping to the affable friendly Rhodey they knew. Then another clip of Jerry, ranting at the camera.

“Can’t say he hasn’t kept us entertained,” Tony said. They rounded the corner when Steve came face to face with himself, but not himself. He’s encountered his alter ego before and started to move on when it switched to a scene of him and Bucky in the pool at the compound where they had retreated after their adventure on the Sanctuary planet. He heard a sharp intake of breath from Bucky but before it went any further Natasha pushed ahead. 

“This is none of our business,” she declared and one by one they all followed with the Wakandans, going past them, all of them keeping their eyes away, refusing to look at the image. Bucky stayed rooted to the spot, but he didn't seem embarrassed at the image. He stared at the video as if it were completely new to him. In the video, his eyes were expressive, smiling as Steve moved in to kiss him.

“Let’s go Bucky,” Steve said. “No one else will see this.”

“Yeah, I know.” He snapped out of his reverie, and they followed the others, the angry rant of Jerry sounding in their ears. 

Together they made it through what they left of the entrance. “One more time,” he said to the Wakandans and another roll of the balls and soon everyone was outside the perimeter of the sensors by the guardhouse. He tapped the headphones. “Thula, we’re out, our people are safe. Once we get some medical attention for Luka, we need to get our ‘guests’ out of there. I’m going to assume Jerry left them alone.”

“We’ll be right there. The reporters left, and there is a man, with a group of people who says he needs to speak to you.”

Steve looked around at his friends. Between them, they had enough firepower to stop just about anything. “Sure, send them back,” he said.

Bucky leaned against the guardhouse and sank to a sitting position, his eyes fixed on something in the distance. Steve joined him; putting his arm around him and gently kissed his cheek.

“Sorry about that,” he said. Bucky said nothing but adjusted his gun and laid it down. Then a slight commotion as the others joined them. Steve watched Thula run without hesitation into Sam’s arms. Tony and Pepper didn’t embrace but ran up very close to each other, and then were suddenly awkward, causing Steve to smile despite the situation. Peter showed no hesitation, joyfully hugging the bemused Pepper, who looked over his shoulder at Tony. Something was going on there. 

The area quieted down as the group approached them with a familiar man leading the way. Steve and Bucky rose as one to greet their visitors.

“Captain Rogers,” the man said. “I am sorry about what has occurred, and I assure you I had no part in this, but I need to...”

“Dejan!” Luka said. He grimaced as he was still in pain. “Where have you been? What…”

“My apologies,” Dejan replied. “But it’s time you knew the truth about me. About who I am and why I came here.”

"Who are you?” Steve asked. "And what do you want?"

  
“I want to set history straight and clear the name of Nicklaus Visnovsky. He was a soldier, caught up in the purges. My name is Victor Visnovsky. Nicklaus was my brother. ”


	17. Chapter 17

Rhodey stared at the freeze-framed image of his counterpart. The unflattering image showed his face skewed in mid-yell. “Damn,” he said. “I’m glad no one else saw this.”

The rest of the team, with the addition of Pepper, stood together in small scattered groups. Most of them missed Rhodey’s arrival late the night before, being exhausted over the events of the past few days. The sound of murmuring voices rose and fell as they recounted the events of the day before to each other. Over at one table, Peter and Luka and Milac were eating, talking and waving their hands as they described something.

Bucky and Steve stood by the window, saying nothing but Steve’s arm went around his shoulder they exchanged a smile. Steve gave him a gentle squeeze as he prepared to ask the question. The muscles in Bucky’s chest tightened as he prepared himself for anything.

“So what did you find out?” Steve asked. The murmurs became whispers and eventually turned to silence.

“They found the mass graves, so Dejan here is correct,” Rhodey said turning away from the image. Tony waved his hand, and the picture disappeared. “They found a soldier, his DNA matches, so they can turn his body over to his family for burial, with the correct name. They’re going to have to change all the history books.”

“Thank you,” Dejan said from his corner of the room. The young man freely admitting to his part in the events of the U.N. but maintained he did not intend to harm anyone, but after years of trying to clear his brother’s name, and being met with resistance, he was angry and out of options and just wanted what all the others wanted, attention brought to his agenda. The team wasn’t sure what to do with him, but seeing as he posed little threat they allowed him freedom of movement within the compound.

“But we can find no evidence of a conspiracy at the moment. We’re not saying it’s not out there, but we dug and dug and if it exists, it’s under very deep cover, but as we know…”

“A deep cover is not impossible,” Tony said. “We’ll keep looking.”

“Thank you,” Mara said. “I’m sorry we were so paranoid, ready to believe anything. We were so afraid because of what our families went through.”

“And it still may be true,” Natasha said. “The best thing you can do is stay vigilant and make sure nothing like that happens again.”

“And you are free to leave,” Steve said. “We’ll take you wherever you want to go.”

She glanced over at the young men who had stopped eating to stare at her. “We need to go home, but I would like to stay in New York for a few days, really see the city. I think it would be educational for the boys. And after we return home, I will help Luka find his family.” A wide smile broke out on Peter’s face.

“So that’s that taken care of,” Steve said, turning his attention back to Rhodey. “What else did you find out?

“Now as far as the main man himself, he had dark plans for Krakestan, which involved a long involved process of internal purges. The reason this didn’t happen, was an unforeseen outcome of the actions of the Asset. Even though it wasn’t your mission, you saved a lot of lives, Bucky.”

Bucky let out his breath and felt Steve’s arm going around him again. Another squeeze. Someone started clapping and soon the whole room was applauding him.

“You don’t know what this means…” he started.

“I think we do,” said Natasha. “One bright spot in the darkness. That’s a lot of red gone.”

“It might sound strange to thank you for doing something that was out of your control, but thank you,” Dejan said.

Bucky felt awkward and Steve seemed to sense it. He moved away from Bucky and walked to the center of the room.

“Now for some unfinished business,” he said, “I think everyone here knows by now Fury escaped before the fireworks started, probably something arranged beforehand by Jerry, and we have no idea where Jerry is, but since Tony is still doing test runs on his system, Bucky finally swallowed his pride and asked the Wakandans for help.”

Bucky nodded to Thula who spoke up from the corner of the room she was sharing with Sam. She was wearing a small headset, the link between them and the Wakandan Embassy. “They are surveilling the city, even now. We will find him. They will contact me as soon as they know anything.”

“I doubt that we’ll find Fury,” Clint said. “What with the security being compromised and no one checking on him, he was probably in the wind as soon as you left to find Pepper.”

“And he’s probably somewhere wondering why the authorities haven’t stormed the compound,” Rhodey said.

“Let him wonder,” Sam said. “He doesn’t KNOW anything, he just suspects, and he’s the type to keep any intelligence he finds close to the chest, so I don’t think we’ll have to worry about him taking anything to the press or the authorities but I suspect he’ll be out there, waiting for his chance to use whatever he has to further his own agenda.”

"I agree,” Natasha said. “But right now, Jerry’s a loose cannon. Where could he find the technology to do what he did? It had to involve Stark technology and come from a remote location. We know it was the place where he held Pepper, but that's about it. It's a big city, and Stark technology is all over."

A small idea sprouted in Bucky’s memory. Technology, controlling everything from a remote location. It was logical. "I'm so stupid. I know exactly where he is. Bob,” he said his thoughts out loud.

All eyes turned to him, some eyebrows arched in confusion, some faces blank. Bucky almost laughed out loud because he knew from their point of view, it sounded like nonsense.

“Who?” Peter asked.

“Bob!” Steve said. “That should have been the first place we looked!

“Thula, tell your people to concentrate on the apartment building we were staying in when we first got here,” Bucky said. “You remember the address? You were there.” She nodded and turned away from them began speaking in a low voice to whoever was on the other end of her link.

“Who the hell is Bob?” Clint asked, speaking for all of them.

“It’s the name my counterpart gave to the smart system in the apartment building where I said Steve and Bucky could stay. You’re right. It makes sense,” Tony said.

“He reprogrammed George in the safe house,” Pepper said. “So it’s plausible.”

“Bob, George…” Rhodey let out a small scoffing laugh. “I hope you are more imaginative.”

It was then Bucky noticed the glances passing between the two young men and Mara. From his place in the corner, Dejan uncrossed his arms, his expression changed from one of indifference to the proceedings to surprise. Before Bucky he could say anything Mara stood up, bringing the attention of the room to herself.

“Your counterpart? What did you mean by that?” she asked.

A heavy silence followed as the realization of what had just happened hit everyone present. The team forgot they were there and spoke too freely among themselves.

“Oh damn,” Tony whispered. “My fault.”

“Was he right?” Dejan asked. “Was Jerry telling the truth? You are imposters?”

"Not exactly,” Bucky said. “They’re the same people…” an idea occurred to him. “Pepper, Thula, Sam, Peter, Clint, Wanda, Vision, I think this one is us to explain. The rest of you, can we have the room?"

“You sure Buck?” Steve asked.

“I think it might be better, coming from us,” he replied. One by one, the members of the team who had crossed the expanse between dimensions filed out of the room. Steve was the last, stopping long enough for he and Bucky to exchange a long glance. 

"You sure about this?" He asked.

"We can handle it," Bucky replied, watching as Steve took his time leaving the room. He turned to those who stayed behind.

“The first thing I want you to do is to assure you that those people who just left the room, are our friends,” he said. “The rest of us, the people standing here, would trust them with our lives. You know what we've done over the past year. We've broken the consortiums and stopped their reign of terror and we did it because of them. We are the Avengers. I think everyone else on the team is with me on this.” Around the room, the team members were standing upright, as if in solidarity with his words. He held up his hand, showing his ring. “In fact, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m practically married to one of them.” He lowered his hand and stared out of the window for a moment.

“Where to begin…” He started. “Thanos…”

The briefing went on for a long time, each team member explaining the events of the past year from their own perspective. Constant interruptions, and sometimes there were questions they could not answer because they had no answer.

Their visitors listened with rapt attention, sometimes arguing, sometimes falling into silence, there was the occasional scoff of disbelieve, but the team answered every objection until there was little left to say.

"This is the truth," Bucky said. "And all we can give you is the evidence of the past year, and what you've seen here, and ask for you to trust our judgment."

“I think about this point, I'm ready to believe anything,” Mara said. “I have seen you up close, in all kinds of situations. I don’t understand it, but I believe you mean no harm.”

“As do I,” Luka said. His brother nodded in agreement. “We’ve seen so many…improbable things over the past year, that this seems almost tame in comparison.”

“It is fantastic, but there is no other explanation for it, so until there is any other explanation, it seems we must believe you. I offer you a little proposal,” Dejan said. Out of all of them, he remained silent during the briefing. " I will keep quiet about your little secret if you will keep quiet about what I did here. As I told you, I meant no harm, and I have gotten what I wanted. You say nothing, I say nothing.”

“As long as you go home and behave yourself, and if the rest of the team agrees, that shouldn’t be a problem,” Sam said. “But you know we have ways of watching you.”

“Of that, I am well aware. It’s of no matter. You already helped me, given my brother back to us, so look upon my silence is more me returning a favor than a threat.”

A red light glowed on Thula’s headset, and she walked a little ways away from the group and spoke to someone on the other end. After a few moments, she turned back to Bucky.

“They have him,'' she said, “He was where you said he would be, and they are on their way here.”

Bucky nodded, then looked over to Clint. “Tell the others to come back,” he said. Clint was out the door and returned a few minutes later with the rest of the team. Steve looked over to Bucky, who smiled in return.

Steve took up his position in the middle of the room. “I hope they explained to you, that in our reality, where we came from, there was destruction and suffering. I can’t describe how awful it was, pure dystopia, and we all lost people we loved.” He smiled over at Bucky, then at Sam. “We were grieving, we wanted our people back. We knew they wouldn’t be exactly the same, but they would be close enough to help us heal, and then we learned we could help you avoid the misery we left behind, we had to do it. It wasn’t easy, we brought everyone who survived the snap with us, most things were the same, some were different, and we had to adjust. All we want to do is to take up the work our counterparts left behind. Someday, when the world is ready, we might tell everyone what we did, but until then, we ask that you protect our secret.”

Above them, they heard the quiet whirring of a helicopter.

“The Wakandans have arrived. They have Jerry and wish to enter.” Friday's calm voice brought them back to the here and now.

“Open the doors, and have them bring him down to us,” Tony said. He crossed his arms and leaned back against a wall. “So who wants to do the honors of breaking the news to Jerry that he was right all along?”

“I think between everyone here, you can handle it,” Steve said. His eyes met Bucky’s, and he lowered his voice. “If it’s alright with you, I’d like to go home.”


	18. Chapter 18

They delayed their departure for Jerry's interview.

The man sat in the room, his arms crossed, sitting back in the chair. The same group that convinced the others sat with him, the rest of the team standing around the perimeter of the room. Mara, Luka, Deja, and Milac were also there, sitting with Peter at a table, fascinated by the procedure.

“You expect me to believe this?” He asked, letting out a disgruntled snort. 

“We expect you to examine the facts we’ve put before you with an open mind,” Sam replied. “Some of us were in the same place you were a year ago, noticing things, asking questions, but unlike you, we just went straight to the source.”

“And they told you, just like that,” Jerry said. He uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “And you believed them?”

“They’ve had ample opportunity to take over the world, murder us in our sleep, further any kind of hidden agenda, and they haven’t. They just came here to live out their lives with their friends and in case you haven’t noticed, they took out the consortiums,” Wanda said.

"How do we know they aren’t just playing the long game?” Jerry asked. "Waiting for the right moment to take over?"

“If they had wanted to take over, they would have by now,” Bucky said.

Jerry graced him with a long angry stare. “Nice arm you’ve got there. You ever wonder what happened to the first one?”

Bucky shook his head. “What’s that got to do with anything?”

“Stark, the Stark I knew, pretended to accept you didn’t know what you were doing when you killed his parents, but deep down, he was angry about it, wanted revenge. He couldn’t take it out on the big bad guys, but you were there, and he had to work with you, trying to fix you, all the while…”

“Did he tell you this?” Clint asked.

“No, but I knew him, I could tell… but he couldn’t do anything about it but I could.”

“You were responsible for the explosion!” Sam stood up and grabbed the man by the arm. “I remember that day! You could have killed everybody in the room! What the hell were you thinking!”

“Sam!” Steve said sharply. Sam looked undecided for a moment, then released his hold.

“That’s one mystery answered,” Rhodey said. “Glad to know it wasn’t my guy.”

“The fact remains, this guy wouldn’t do anything like that, he was here, talking to Barnes like they were old friends...what did you do with him? Where is he?”

“We’ve explained all that!” Wanda said. Bucky was half afraid she’d lose control of herself. This time it was Vision who put a hand on her shoulder, which calmed her down, but only a little.

“I hate to do this, but Bucky, I think it might be time to call out the big guns,” Steve said.

Bucky hesitated but sent a nod to Thula, and then to Tony. 

A full-sized hologram of T’Challa appeared to the group.

“King T’Challa,” Bucky said. 

"White Wolf," he said in response. "Thula Behan, members of the Avengers team and your friends. Greetings."

Jerry said nothing, but his mouth dropped open in shock.

“So you need my help after all.” Always before, he was their friend, but now his appearance was regal and kingly. “So, it seems your friend here needs convincing about the goodwill of some members of your team. How may I help?”

  
  
  


Steve and Bucky stopped by Tony’s new office before leaving. The compound was a whirl of activity. Vision, Peter, and Bruce were on his team doing what they could to help him set up his new system, while Rhodey, Clint, Wanda, and Natasha were busy thinking up ‘what if’ scenarios. Sam insisted Thula had done enough for the team and needed time off, and Thula didn’t argue. They disappeared back to the city.

“I’ve taken all my employees back,” Tony said. “They’re already broken in and everything, but I’m going to give them all the once over and be a lot more careful this time around.”

"That’s probably for the best,” Steve said. “Let the noise around it die down. Maybe someday, we’ll tell them, I don’t know. We’re just going to play it by ear. I hope Jerry does well, to wherever it is T’Challa has taken him. Delusional Disorder is what I think they called it."

"They’ll look after him,” Bucky said. “Finest mental health care in the world. I know that for a fact."

“You don’t have to worry about the little talent show he put on,” Tony said. “I’m going to delete all that.”

“Don’t,” Bucky said. “Is there some way you can save it…?

“Save it?” Tony asked, his eyebrow raised. “You want to keep that? I thought I’d wiped it when I first saw it, but he obviously saw it first. I mean, there’s nothing really explicit going on, but still…”

“You sure about this, Buck?” Steve asked.

“Don’t delete it, give it to us,” Bucky said. He felt a blush coming on, but this was important.

“Kinky,” Tony said in a teasing voice, just like Bucky knew he would. Sometimes he hated normal people and their ways, but he decided not to argue.

“Not for that,” Bucky said, this time he knew the blush was visible, but he didn’t care. He did his best to ignore Steve’s bemused look.

Knowing you, it’s probably not, but okay,” Tony said. He sat down at the computer and plugged in a flash drive. After a moment, he removed it and handed it over. “You know how that works?”

“Yes, we know how it works, “Steve said. “Come on Bucky, we have a vacation to finish.”  
  
  
  


They rode back to the city in silence, opting not to fly this time and they asked to be taken back to their old apartment in Brooklyn. 

Bucky threw down the bags on one of the small beds. “I didn’t know what you meant when you said home,” he said.

“I enjoyed our time at Tony’s apartment, but I’m not all that eager to go back there, are you?” Steve said, unloading his own luggage. 

“Not really,” Bucky said, sitting down beside the suitcases. “But this is home?”

“Home is where you are, and for now, that’s Wakanda,” Steve joined him on the bed. 

“Are you sure?” Bucky asked. 

Steve smiled at him and let out a gentle sigh. “Over the past few days, I’ve seen this city from all angles, from the skyline, the underground, and I love it, I want to come back here again and again, but I came to realize, this isn’t home. If anything, it’s an imitation of the place I remember, so when our time is up here, I’m ready to go back, have the ceremony but...let’s keep this place. This place, I like, this is where we’ll come back too.”

“Okay,” Bucky said. Their eyes stayed locked for a long moment.

“Why did you want to keep that compromising recording?” Steve asked. “For safekeeping?”

Bucky swallowed. He hated talking about things like this, but Steve deserved an explanation. “I remember our first night together, everything about it, the way you kissed me, the way you asked my permission before doing anything, I remember that night in the safe house when we were on the run in Wakanda…”

“With the scented sheets. I remember that night…” Steve said, a half-smile on his face.

“I remember our anniversary night, but the thing is, I don’t want to forget, but most of those moments just kind of faded from my memory. Even if I wanted to hold on to them I don’t think I could, I think it would be the same way if we ever...you know...” He hated that he always rambled when it came to things like this.

“Had sex. It’s not a dirty word. We do everything but…”

“I know, but it would be the same thing. I’d forget. I’d almost forgotten about what we did in the pool, but if I kept the recording, and could look at it once in a while…I would remember, I know, it doesn’t make any sense.”

“It doesn’t,” Steve said. “But it doesn’t have to. I believe you and I believe this is important to you.”

It was just as warm as he remembered. Bucky’s ceremonial outfit was heavy, but fortunately, the ceremony would be brief, and this time at least Steve was not wearing the light tunic shirt he normally wore on occasions like this, but an outfit similar to his own. Heavy outer tunic, new boots, and he looked good. 

During their last few weeks in New York, they enjoyed the town and each other, and during their downtime, Bucky did his best to tutor Steve to learn the responses in Wakandan for the ceremony and he was grateful for his eidetic memory. Steve had gone through the whole thing without a mistake and now T’Challa was placing a Vibranium sash around his shoulder. The small crowd that had gathered in the Palace's garden broke into applause, and that included Sam and Thula. That was it. It was over. In a week, there would be an official reception introducing Steve to the diplomatic corps and essentially, the world, something Bucky dreaded but would endure.

Steve and T’Challa walked over to him, the King wearing a broad smile. “I know when Steve Rogers first came here, that this would eventually happen,” he said.

“I think deep down, everyone did,” Steve said. At that moment a member of his bodyguard pulled away the King leaving the two men standing apart from the crowd.

“So now, we can get back to what we were doing before we went to New York,” Bucky said.

“And what was that?” Steve asked.

“Living,” Bucky replied, “Just living our lives.”

Later, after thanking everyone for coming, and changing back into their everyday clothes, the two started back down to the village. As the lake came into view, Bucky reflected on that day, last year, as he sat there after fighting in the Great Battle, reeling from seeing Steve again and battling with his emotions. Now Steve was home, he was home...things were as they should be.

“You know, the words to that ceremony, the things about honor and making vows and all that, sounded a little like a wedding ceremony,” Steve said.

“I never thought about it, but you’re right,” Bucky replied. “It’s not that much different, although it varies from tribe to tribe, sometimes village to village…” he stopped in mid-stride. “That’s an interesting observation to make,” he said. “What are you thinking?”

“Nothing,” Steve said. “What are customs like in Tema? I mean, if someone wanted to marry someone, would they just announce it or…”

“You’d have to ask an elder.” These were odd questions to ask, then it hit him. “Steve,’ Bucky said, this time crossing his arms as he studied his partner’s face. Steve was amused about something. “What are you thinking?”

“Oh, something for another day,” he said. “Right now, we need to return to the villages, to each other, to life.” He kissed him on the cheek and took his hand, and together they continued on their way back to their home, the sun sending its golden rays across the lake.


End file.
